The Future Will Be Bright
by SHSL Coder
Summary: This wasn't supposed to be happening. It's cold, it's freezing over here. We're in the middle of nowhere and we can't leave. I should be at school, living a normal life, but this is anything but that. I need to go home, but he says we can't, he keeps saying we're stuck here. Someone needs to save us. The only thing we can do for now is keep hope. [UPDATED!]
1. Prologue

**[A/N: Hey everyone! So I decided to try out one of these SYOC stories, cuz why not? I just want to say right now that this story will have swearing, spoilers for DR1/SDR2, and right now I'm not sure how 'bad' the deaths are gonna be, but don't expect anything not bloody. Anyway, let's do this!]**

* * *

><p>The atmosphere was heavy, in the small room. Well, it was for the one person in it, anyway. They sat at their computer desk, speaking with someone over video chat.<p>

_"...This is quite interesting,"_ the other end of the call, with simply a picture of a cartoon-ish bear on their webcam spoke, with an altered voice.

"Please, consider it," the person talking to them, not using any voice changers, replied. "I'm sure it will help, and be good for both of us."

_"Hee hee, yes, I think you're riiight..."_ the voice spoke in a sing-song manner. _"Well, I like it. How about this- meet us here, in the file I'm about to send you, and we'll watch the fireworks fly, as well as get you started. Sound good?"_

The person sitting at their desk smiled, rather mischeviously. They were happy, but they weren't sure themselves if it was genuine, or anything else. Nonetheless, they didn't care.

"Okay. I'll see you soon. Thank you."

_"Hee hee! No, thank youu! It starts in three days, got it? I expect to see you there! I'm sure this will help..."_

_"...in bringing despair to the world."_

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><p>"This cold is bullshit, man."<p>

"You said it... yep, there goes my cigarette."

"I got you, here."

"Thanks."

...

...

"What are we doing out here, anyway? Tower up there's keepin' an eye out, I'm sure we can go inside..."

"Tower's for aircraft, bro. We're here for ground, I guess."

"Yeah, I gu-"

"Wait- you hear that?"

"Shit, is- is that the siren!?"

_"WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I REPEAT, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!"_

"Oh crap! What the fuck!? I-I'm hearing gunfire!"

"C'mon, we gotta go!"

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><p><strong>Aaaand there it is! Yeah, I know, like everyone's doing an SYOC recently. But, I've been bored, and thought this would be cool to do! Updates will be fairly frequent, I'll try and get 'em out as fast as I can. Don't worry, this story will be different than what's out right now ;)<strong>

**[Edit: SYOC is now closed! Thank you all for sending your characters! If you sent me a character through PM, you should have a response. Story will start soon, so stay tuned!]**


	2. Chapter 1 Part 1: Introductions

_'...'_

_'...'_

_'...'_

_'...'_

_'...I'm... late...'_

_'...late...?'_

I found myself slowly coming back to consciousness. _'Was I sleeping...?'_ I was tired, so tired, and cold. My eyes felt crusted shut, and I didn't bother trying to open them. Something felt... off, but I couldn't pinpoint it. Was it the freezing air? This hard mattress?

_'...this mattress?'_

Something was now setting off alarms in my head. Last thing I remember is standing in front of the Flying Stars High School, ready to go in for my first day- when did I end up in a bed? _'Infirmary, maybe? I must've hit my head...'_ I eventually realized I wasn't going to get any answers by just sitting here thinking, so I decided to finally open my eyes.

A dark small room resembling military barracks is not what I expected.

I was lying in a bed, one of those bolted into the wall, with a cheap-feeling blanket over me. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and sat up. I took a quick look around the cold room, pulling the blanket higher, trying to remember the room. But for whatever reason, I couldn't recall anything in it, nor how I got there. _'Something's... not right...'_

On the wall behind me, there was a desk, and a black chair pushed in. The desk was bare, at least from what I could see in the dark room. Above the desk was an odd monitor screen, and a camera above it. _'That's, uh, weird.'_ The only light came from underneath the large steel door in front of me, and the draft probably came from there too. On the left wall, across from me, was another door, albeit not as large as the entrance. Next to it was a hook, with a jacket on it- my jacket. A large gray puffy jacket with a fur hood. _'Well, at least I have that.'_

After taking a moment to try and wake myself up a bit more, I sat upright. _'What time is it, even?'_ It felt like I had been sleeping for days, and only now I woke up in the morning. But that couldn't be true, could it? Had to have been only a few hours since I got here, right? _'That is, if this is even Flying Stars...'_

After a few moments, I slowly stood up from the bed. _'Once I find someone they'll explain everything. Gotta be a doctor, or a student, or something.'_ Yawning, I stepped over to my jacket, but I stopped. _'...I need to use the washroom.'_ I looked to the door in front of me, deciding if anything, it's got to be a bathroom right?

Turns out I was right. I swung it open with ease, and there a clean, white bathroom lay before me. The light blinded me for a second, but after a moment I stepped in. It was a pretty simple bathroom, with a sink and mirror on your right as you walk in, ahead of that a toilet, and taking up the left wall was a shower. A little trash can also took the far left corner. I went over to the mirror, and looked through it, before doing anything else. I seemed, well, as usual, but the only thing I noticed was a bit of stubble growing on my chin. _'Huh, I don't remember that. I shaved like, yesterday!'_ On the sink were a few of those small sample toothpastes, and on the wall just to the right of the sink was a little bucket thing with disposable toothbrushes. I seen a few other necessities, like face wash and such. _'At least I can deal with all that. Although, I'm still confused...'_

I did my business, and quickly brushed my teeth. Opting against going through the rest of my morning routine until I knew what was happening, I left the bathroom, feeling a bit more woken up. Once I left, I realized there was a light switch next to the door, and so I flicked that on. Finally, the weird room I was in was lit up. _'That's better. I should get going now.'_ I grabbed my jacket, and swung it over my clothes, a black t-shirt with gray and white sweatpants. I grabbed my favorite gloves out of the pocket, fingerless MMA gloves, and slipped them on. Zipping up my jacket, I took the doorknob, and opened the door.

Well, there was the second thing I wasn't expecting today.

Right outside the room was a winter wonderland. A thick blanket of snow layered the ground, and the freezing chill hit immediately. I stuffed my hands into my pants pockets, and tried to look for anything I could recognize, some kind of landmark, anything that could remind me of where I was. But, there was nothing of the sort. The room I just left was a small barrier kind of thing, with a grey-and-white camoflauge on it for whatever reason. Something that puzzled me the most, was the nameplate, on the door.

_HITAKA YUUSHI_

It had my name on it. And alongside that, an odd pixel drawing of what appeared to be _me_ was there, above it. _'Alright, I don't remember giving my name for this. This is getting kind of weird now.'_ Alongside my room, were a bunch of others just like it, grey-and-white barriers. I did a quick count and seen seven beside my room, and across from them, were eight more of the same thing, each with the same nameplates, with different names and drawings. I read a few of them, but none of them rung a bell. Nor did the pixel things. Various other buildings lay in the distance, and at the left end of the rooms, where mine was, was a large building, appearing to be three stories high. At the other end were a few others, but I seen a fence block anyone from going that way. _'I... am so lost right now.'_

I simply stood there for a minute. Looking around me, this enviroment. There were a few loudspeakers, for announcements I guessed, not knowing what kind. To put it bluntly, I had no idea where I was, and how I got there. You know when you lose your mom in the grocery store? Imagine that times like fifty. _'What happened? This isn't Flying Stars. And, actually...'_ I started thinking more, thinking about the situation, when I got to something a bit weird. _'...didn't winter just start? Where'd all this snow come from?'_

"Um... hello?"

_'Eh!?'_

Breaking me out of my thoughts, a sudden voice came from behind me. I spun around, surprised, and sure enough, a short girl stood before me.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry. I, uh... do you know where we are...?" she asked, crossing her arms from the cold. _'Finally another face. Wait- what'd she say?'_

"Um, no, I don't. And I guess you don't, either?" I replied, running a hand through my already messy black hair.

"N-No. I just woke up here... oh, wait. My name is Suzuki Mihane. I'm the Super Highschool Level Developer. It's, um, nice to meet you."

**SUZUKI MIHANE**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL DEVELOPER**

"Developer, huh?" I asked, looking her over. She had short brown hair, and wore a puffy pink jacket and black sweatpants.

"Yeah... I make things. I program, edit videos..." she replied.

"Right. Anyways, I'm Hitaka Yuushi..." _'...the Super Highschool Level...?'_

"That's a nice name," Suzuki smiled. "What's your Super Highschool Level? O-Oh, you go to Flying Stars, right?"

_'...'_

_'...I forgot.'_

I knew I had one. I remember reading the acceptance letter and seeing mine. But I couldn't recall it- no matter how hard I tried. I mean, I know for a fact I got into the school, but I couldn't remember my talent. I used to box, at the gym before I started high school, but was that really it? I had a few other talents, but... I couldn't put a Super Highschool Level to the name Hitaka Yuushi.

"I, uh, forgot." I stated bluntly. "I musta hit my head or something... I don't know."

**HITAKA YUUSHI**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL ?**

"Oh, really?" Suzuki tilted her head, and seemed as confused as I was. "That's odd. Were you accepted?"

"Mhm, I was. I remember reading the letter and being all excited." I spoke truthfully. I remember getting mail one morning, and boom, accepted to Flying Stars. So why would I forget something as important to this school as my Super Highschool Level?

"I'm sorry to hear," Suzuki frowned. "But... we should try to figure out what's happening..." she put her hand to her chin, thinking.

"Yeah, that's more important right now. Did you see anyone else?" I agreed with the girl, and asked.

"No. There's a ton of rooms, like the ones we just left, though..." she replied, turning to look around at the two rows of rooms around us.

"I guess-"

_"Do I need to say this again!?"_

"Huh?"

I was suddenly interrupted by something- something loud- in the middle of my sentence. From the loudspeakers around the area. Some kind of voice? _'What? Who- who is that?'_

_"You two are taking your sweet ass time aren't you? For the last time, get over to the gymnasium! First floor of the building! Big brown doors! A couple of dimwits like you can handle that, right? Ugh, that better have actually came through the speakers this time."_

Yep, definitely a voice. From the loudspeakers, came an odd squeaky voice, definitely through a voice changer, ordering someone to the... gym? I looked to the building before Suzuki and I, seeing double glass doors to the entrance.

"I think they were talking to us," Suzuki said calmly, looking at the loudspeakers. _'Well, we are two people standing around...'_

"Should we go in here then?" I asked, confused. _'Who was that? Was that whoever put us here? Wait, maybe if we go to this gym, we'll find some more people...'_

"Yeah," Suzuki said, still keeping calm, "I think so."

I nodded in agreement. If anything, this gym should give us answers. I want to know how I got here, 'cause I can't remember nothing. I must've just passed out for whatever reason, and this is part of Flying Stars, right? Maybe some kind of test, to see how we students react to this? This seems a little much for a simple test, but... after thinking about it, I remembered something. Sometimes you just gotta... _do_ things. _'Just keep fighting the opposition... take risks, and just do things...'_

I walked over to the glass doors, and pulled them open. I was immediately greeted with the warmth of the building, heaters and such, which helped quite a bit. I kinda just stood there for a second, letting the warmth go through me. I held the door for Suzuki, and let it close as she walked in.

So now we had a hallway in front of us. The floor had light brown tiles, with dark brown at both ends, and the walls had the same color paint, with a dark brown stripe through the middle. There were a few doors, but just rooms like a trash room, bathrooms, and few other staff rooms. At the end of the hallway it split into two directions- one going to the left and forward, Northwest I'd say, and one on the right going Northeast, making a letter Y out of the hallway. On the wall between the split were two elevators, but they were blocked off with 'Out of Order' tape.

"So, which way should we go?" I asked, as we walked to the end of the hallway.

"Hmm..." Suzuki looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe... try left?" _'Left it is, then.'_

I shrugged, stuffing my hands back in my pockets, and started going left. There were a few more bathrooms along the way, a laundry room, one of those big shower rooms, and two large doors at the end. And above the doors, was a sign that read 'Gym'.

_'Huh. That was surprisingly easy.'_

"I guess this is it..." Suzuki said from next to me. I noticed a faint smile on her face, for whatever reason.

"Let's go in." Taking my hands back out of my pockets, I grabbed the doorknob. It was warm, like it was recently used. And as I grabbed it, I started hearing something, behind the door. Voices. People. There seemed to be a ton of them. Twisting the doorknob, I pushed the huge door open.

There's the _third_ thing I wasn't expecting today, even if I heard voices.

A large group of people, students around my age, were scattered around the whole gym. The gym had excersize machines, punching bags, you name it. And people were everywhere, a few seemed to be talking amongst themselves, but everyone stopped as soon as we opened the door.

"Took you guys long enough," one girl wearing a long-sleeved white shirt scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Well, you can't blame them! I would've slept in too, if we weren't called here..." a guy spoke, wearing a black turtleneck sweater.

"But how could you go back to _sleep_ after that?" another girl, wearing a long pink jacket, asked. "Like, how lazy can you get? Get on your game!"

"It isn't important," a tall, slim man added, wearing a dark blue hoodie over a white t-shirt. "They're here now. We should introduce ourselves."

_'Oh, great. I'm gonna mess this-'_

"Okay," Suzuki smiled again. "My name is Suzuki Mihane, I'm a Developer."

Suzuki nudged me in the rib, whispering for me to say something. _'Fine, fine...'_

"Er, Hitaka Yuushi. I... don't remember my Super Highschool Level." I crossed my arms, briefly looking over the room. There seemed to be a makeshift podium, at the other end of the gym, on top of a bunch of cardboard boxes. I had a feeling that it probably wasn't there before, but why was it there then?

"Wait, what!?" another girl yelled, this one with long brunette hair and a purple sweater, "How could you let yourself _forget_ your own talent!?"

"Wait- I didn't-"

"Stop." the tall man from earlier raised his voice slightly, and immediately everyone shut up. He was kind of intimidating, I won't lie. Especially when he walked over and towered above me.

"Your name is Hitaka Yuushi, correct?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah."

"I'll introduce myself. My name is Erik Sven, and I'm the Super Highschool Level Military Strategist."

**ERIK SVEN**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL MILITARY STRATEGIST**

Erik offered his hand, and not wanting to be that guy, I shook it. This guy has a hell of a grip. _'And, Military Strategist!? How old is this guy?'_

"So... Military Strategist?" I asked. I had to!

"Yes," Erik nodded, "My father was involved with the United Nations. Due to an... incident, the U.N were interested in me. Now, I'm an official ward of the United Nations."

"That's impressive." I spoke, truthfully. Meanwhile, here I am, not knowing what I'm even good at.

"You should talk to the others," Erik looked at me sternly, "I don't know what's happening, but we might have a hostage situation on our hands. If we work together, we might be able to get out alive."

"Got it." I nodded, and took a quick look around the gym. Suzuki was already talking with some of the girls, on the right side near a punching bag, and Erik went in front of a mirror on the left, lifting a few weights.

_'Well, now I have thirteen people to talk to. Great. Although, I did say I needed to see people...'_

There were small groups of people huddled around everywhere, seemingly three or four, sitting around on the machines. The closest group was in the left corner next to me, with the guy in the black turtleneck and a black sideways baseball cap, a girl with navy blue hair with black streaks going through it, and another girl wearing a large tan sweater. _'Guess I should start here.'_

I started walking over, and the turtleneck guy, sitting on an excersize bike, waved me to them with a fingerless gloved hand. The two girls were chatting next to it, but stopped when they seen me.

"Yo! What's up?" the guy said, leaning back into the seat.

"Nothing great, I'd say..." I rolled my eyes, joking around.

"Yeah, I hear you. Anyway, I'm Toori Hisaru, Super Highschool Level Audio Expert! Nice to meet ya!"

**TOORI HISARU**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL AUDIO EXPERT**

"Nice to meet you too." I smiled. This guy seemed pretty friendly. "So, what does an Audio Expert do?"

"Exactly how it sounds, dude! I work with audio." Toori grabbed his headphones off his neck, which I only now noticed due to his mostly black outfit, and played around with them. "So like, music, voices, all that stuff."

"Wait! You're not the only person with a talent here!" the girl with blue hair and pink jacket spoke up, suddenly.

"Name's Takahashi Haruna. Call me Haru." she added, introducing herself.

"Uh, hi," I said, awkwardly. "So what do you do?"

"I'm a soccer player, the captain of my own team!" she exclaimed.

**TAKAHASHI HARUNA**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL SOCCER PLAYER**

"Oh, that's cool," I nodded in interest. I dunno, I'd play sports, but for some reason they're not really my thing. I'd rather watch.

"Yeah, she found a soccer ball before you guys got here," Toori commented, "Shoulda seen the way she kicked this thing!"

"I was just bored," Haru crossed her arms. "By the way. You don't remember your Super Highschool Level, right?" she asked, looking to me.

"Er, no." I replied.

"Well, you better pick something up while we're here! And don't sleep in again, got it!?" Haru pretty much demanded of me, before turning away. _'Bossy, this one.'_

"Yeah, sure, sure." _'Hopefully, I won't need to wake up here again.'_ After that, I remembered there was another person, who was standing next to Haru. She had dark red hair, tied in a high ponytail, and wore a big beige sweater with a cat on it._ 'Might as well keep going.'_

"So, uh, what's your name...?" I asked her, awkwardly. I suck at greetings.

"I'm Yamashita Sayuri! I play the flute. I mean, I play other instruments too, but the flute's my specialty, haha." she smiled, as she introduced herself.

**YAMASHITA SAYURI**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL FLAUTIST**

"Oh, nice! I used to play the guitar a bit," I replied, truthfully. A few years ago I used to play guitar, but never got really into it.

"Hey, maybe we could play together sometime, then!" Yamashita said, cheerfully.

"That is, if you can find your flute first!" Haru joked, nudging her arm.

"Oh, yeah, I don't have my flute yet..."

_'Well, there's my first group down. They seem cool, but why do they seem... familiar? Why do I feel like I already know a Super Highschool Level Audio Expert? Hmm...'_

After finishing with them, I looked around the gym. Whoever called us here didn't seem to have shown up yet, and for some reason I had a bad feeling about whatever'll happen when they come. I'm always like this though, doubting things, being paranoid. Most of the time I have no reason to, but, better safe than sorry right?

I found myself looking at a big punching bag next to the bike. I did boxing for around a year, and still am, going to the gym and punching things, so this piqued my interest. _'Meeting people can wait, right?'_ I walked up to it, and threw my jacket off, putting it on a nearby bench. Making sure there was nothing in the surrounding area, I got into my boxing stance.

_'Left foot forward, right foot back... Hands up, keep the elbows tight... bend knees a bit...'_

It'd been a while since I went, a few weeks, so I was a bit rusty. But, slowly, it came back to me. I adjusted my stance correctly, and practived moving my left hand in the jab motion, but not hitting. After I got ready, I swung.

Putting my shoulder into it, I threw my left fist straight. It made contact with the bag, sending it back, farther than what I'd done in the gym. Which was odd, considering this bag seemed even heavier. But, I'm not complaining.

When it came back, I threw a right cross, twisting my right foot, this time putting my whole body into it. It went even farther, and the impact was hard. _'Damn, I'm impressing myself. Let's try a hook...'_

I threw a few more hooks and punches, getting back to my groove. Felt like it was forever since I been to the gym, needed a little refresher. I felt much stronger, for whatever reason, like I'd been going to the gym much more. Although, I did feel like I made some good progress last time I went, so that might've been part of it. _'I gotta hit this place after, and actually work out a bit... but, for now, I should get back to talking to everyone.'_

Next to the punching bag was another group. There was a tall, foreign looking man wearing a green turtleneck and jeans, with a girl donning a knee-length green dress and a yellow and brown apron. Another girl sat with them, with long brown hair in pigtails, a long black jacket going to her thighs, and hot pink jeans. The three sat on a bench in front of a mirror, and the tall guy wasn't particularly beaming. Behind the bench was Erik, at the end of the mirror._'Well, next group.'_

"Uh, hello," I greeted, as I walked over.

"Hey there! Hitaka, right?" the brown haired girl replied.

"Mhm, that's me."

"My name's Asai Midori, the Super Highschool Level Taxidermist. Nice to meet you!"

**ASAI MIDORI**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL TAXIDERMIST**

"Taxidermist?" I asked. _'She's a taxidermist!? The kind that-'_

"Oh, lots of people ask about that," Asai smiled, "It's an art, really. People will say you're just stuffing dead-"

"Ah- yep- I know, I know." I said, interrupting her as soon as I could. _'Wouldn't expect a highschool kid to be a taxidermist of all things!'_

Asai laughed a bit, and I continued on with the group. The next person I talked to was the tall one with the green turtleneck.

"So-"

"Jokuno Akimitsu," he interrupted as I attempted to greet him, "Super Highschool Level Tutor."

**JOKUNO AKIMITSU**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL TUTOR**

"Tutor, huh?" I asked. Yeah, he kinda looked like a teacher, with his worn-looking glasses and all.

"Yes, that's me," Jokuno replied. I heard him mumble something along the lines of 'surrounded by idiots' under his breath, after that. He was definitely agitated.

"Right, uh..." I nodded, and decided this probably isn't gonna go anywhere. _'On to the next.'_

"And you are?" I asked the last person, a girl wearing what looked like something a florist would wear.

"Um... I'm Placide Yount!" she replied with a French accent, "It's nice to meet you... o-oh, and I'm a Super Highschool Level Florist...!"

**PLACIDE YOUNT**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL FLORIST**

_'Called it!'_

"Oh, so you like... grow flowers or something?" I ask, trying to get a conversation out of someone here.

"I, um, sell them," she says back, "Wh-what about you...? Y-You don't remember?" she asks.

"No. Don't know why." I respond.

"A-Ah, I'm sorry... um..." she says, stuttering for words. _'She's so... innocent. I feel bad she has to be here.'_

"Well, anyways, it was nice to meet you, I guess," I say, "I'm gonna talk to everyone else."

"O-Okay! Bye...!" she replies, smiling.

I walked away from the bench, and seen a few people standing around a shelf of weights. There was a guy with long-ish black hair, ending with silvery-blue highlights, wearing a green top styled like a yukata and black jeans. With him was a girl wearing a thick gray sweater, and a lighter gray skirt reaching above her knees, with black leggings underneath. Next to the girl was another guy, this one was short and wore a huge blue knit sweater with a green apple on it, and black sweatpants.

"Hello," I greeted the three, not seeming to have interrupted much.

"Well, hello there," the guy with the black hair and highlights replied, looking over to me.

"Hey. So, uh..."

"Kisaki Yukijin," he introduced himself, "Super Highschool Level Utaite."

**KISAKI YUKIJIN**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL UTAITE**

"Oh, a utaite, huh?"

"Yep. My stage name is YukiMimi, you might've heard about me?" he replied to me asking about him.

"Ah, I can't say I have..." _'Maybe when we get home I'll look him up or something.'_

"Mm, I see." For a second, it was silent, until he came and whispered in my ear.

"Talk to these two, okay? They've been quiet forever and obviously want to talk to each other." he whispered, motioning to the other two there. I look over, and yeah, the two seemed shy. And nervous. _'Well, I can do something about that.'_

"So, uh, hey," I start out, "What's your guys' names?"

Immediately they look at one another, as if to say 'you do it', and barely a second later they turned away, stammering for words. _'Oh jeez.'_ The male pulled up the collar of his sweater, as if to hide, and the girl was just looking away.

"Alright... what about you?" I say, to the male.

"U-Um... I'm, uh, Aito Doi..." he mumbles.

"Er, a little louder, please?" I ask, even though I heard him fine. It helps people like this sometimes, I find.

"A-Aito Doi." he finally says, clearer than before. "I'm... a Super Highschool Level Decorator."

**AITO DOI**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL DECORATOR**

"Huh, decorator! Interesting." I won't lie, that kind of actually was interesting, bet it'd be a fun thing to do. "So what do you do? Parties, houses, hm?"

"U-Uh, well, anything really..." he said, still barely above a whisper. "Special occasions, th-things like that..."

"Well, that's cool man," I smile, hoping it was warm. _'If I can get these kids out of their shells, then damn right I am.'_

"Th-thank you." he replied, giving back a small smile of his own. _'There we go.'_

"And now, what about you?" I ask, to the girl standing next to him. She's surprised for a moment, but collects herself and does more or less the same greeting as Aito.

"Um, h-hello... my name is Masamoto Yukari. It's... n-nice to meet you." she says.

"Nice to meet you too, Masamoto," I smile again. "So what do you do?"

"I-I'm a... Super Highschool Level Crochetier."

**MASAMOTO YUKARI**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL ****CROCHETIER**

"Oh, really? What's it like to crochet?" I ask. She smiles, and starts talking.

"O-Oh, it's really fun! W-Well, I think so, a-anyway... So y-you take the needle, and..." She went on about crocheting, and sewing. She talked about all of her stuffed animals she made, and how she's been making them since preschool.

"Oh, and..." she reached for her backpack, and pulled it off. "I-I have some of my stuffed animals in here, w-would you like to see them?" _'Ahh... dammit, I really don't want to say no, but I should probably hurry this up. I still have... four more people. Huh, I got through this fast.'_

"I'd love to, Masamoto, but, I still need to talk to the rest," I said, "Why don't you show Aito?"

"Um... A-Aito?" she turned to Aito, who was flustered and confused beyond belief.

"Uhhhh..."

"Y-You'll love them! Please?" she held the backpack close to her chest, trying to get Aito to say yes. I decided to leave them alone for now, and I went to the other side of the gym. Suzuki was still talking with two girls, so that left the last two guys. Both of which didn't seem as friendly as everyone else.

Sitting apart on a bench in front of a mirror, just across from the other bench, was a grumpy looking man who also looked foreign, and another kid with a black sleeveless sweater and jean shorts. I decided to start with the second one.

"Uh, hey there," I greeted.

"...Hi," he said, simply.

"Er, what's your name?" I asked.

"Kenta Keiro," he replied, "I'm a Super Highschool Level Potter."

**KENTA KEIRO**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL POTTER**

"Oh, really? You make pots?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says, "But that doesn't need to mean I enjoy it." _'Oof. This one's hard.'_

"So, you don't-"

"I'm not sure if you noticed, but we're having a hell of a time here..." he cut me off, and I must've looked confused, because when he followed up I felt like an idiot.

"That was sarcasm. What I'm trying to say is, leave." his words felt sharp, as he lowered his head, done with the conversation. _'...Ouch.'_

I walked away after that, and decided to get the next part over with. The next guy wore a heavy black greatcoat, with black dress pants and shoes, with black leather gloves to finish it off. He looked... important, I think the best word would be.

"Uh, hello," I greeted.

"..." Nothing. He stayed silent.

"Hello?"

He raised his head, slightly. He looked around, until his eyes fell on me, then he sat more upright.

"Yes? Do you need anything?" he asked, a heavy German accent dripping from his voice.

"Thought I'd, uh... get your name?"

"...Hizen Creutzfeldt," he replied after a moment, "Super Highschool Level Undertaker."

**HIZEN CREUTZFELDT**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL UNDERTAKER**

"Oh, uh, really? Undertaker?" I ask.

"Yes, that's me. I used to work at a graveyard," Hizen replied, "And now, here I am."

"Huh, interesting." I say.

Hizen nodded, and seemingly had nothing else to say. _'Not a man of many words.'_ I decide to finish up here, and go to the last two people left. Suzuki'd been talking with the two girls, standing by another punching bag. One wore jeans and a long sleeve white shirt, along with what looked like riding boots, and the other wearing a purple winter sweater and heavy blue pants, with purple boots to finish it off.

"Eh, hello," I greeted, walking over. _'I've been doing that a lot...'_

"Oh, hi Hitaka," Suzuki said. "This is Hitaka, he forgot his Super Highschool Level, though." Suzuki ended up introducing me, even though I just said all of this not ten minutes ago.

"Hi," the one wearing the purple sweater said, "I'm Sumiyoshi Mizuki! I'm a Super Highschool Level Fashion Designer."

**SUMIYOSHI MIZUKI**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL FASHION DESIGNER**

"Fashion Designer, huh?" I asked.

"Yep!" she says, "I make clothes. But that's not important- how are you feeling?" she asked. _'Eh?'_

"I'm-"

"Fever? Are you warm? Let me see!" she put the back of her right hand and put it on my forehead. _'Wait-'_

"Hmm, you seem fine... Do you remember anything? What is your name?" she kept asking.

"Hitaka-"

"Tell me everything you remember! If you forgot your Super Highschool Level, you might have amnesia!" she balled her hands into fists, pouting.

"No, wait-"

"He's fine," Suzuki said, "Don't worry about him." _'Can I not get interrupted for once?'_

"If you say so," Sumiyoshi crossed her arms, "After we find out what's going on, see me okay? You need to take care of yourself!" _'I-I thought she was a fashion designer, not a doctor!'_

"Yeah, uh, sure..." I nodded slowly, and decided to get on with the last person.

"So, what's your name?" I ask the last person there.

"Hmph," she grunted, obviously not wanting to be here, "I'm Dakota North, got it?"

"Okay, so what's your-"

"Jockey," she interrupted, "That good enough? Honestly, if you guys could do me a favor and fuck off, that'd be great." she said coldly, turning away. _'Jeez.'_

**DAKOTA NORTH**

**SUPER HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL JOCKEY**

"We should probably leave her," Suzuki said, turning to me, "Come on. Now that you've met everyone-"

"Are you bastards done!?"

Suddenly, another voice was heard, this time from... behind the podium? It was a weird squeaky voice, like the one on the loudspeaker. Everyone turned to the podium, murmuring questions to one another.

"Yo, who was that?" Toori asked, walking up alongside Suzuki and I.

Erik kept a stern face, with his eyes locked onto the podium. Everyone else did the same- no one took their eyes off it.

But when _it_ happened... I think that's four now, right?

It was quiet, and the air was thick, for a short moment. Until the owner of the voice showed himself. Sure, I expected it'd be someone behind a voice changer, but...

Someone behind a black and white stuffed bear?

"Jeez, you bastards sure took your time! I had to get you two up twenty minutes after everyone else!" the thing spoke. _'Th-there's a speaker in there, right?'_

"Is that a... stuffed bear? I-I made something like that once..." Masamoto said, standing next to Aito.

"I don't-" Aito started, but got cut off.

"I'm not a stuffed bear!" the thing raised its arms over its head, as if ready to attack. "I'm Monokuma!"

Monokuma.

Why does that name...?

"I'm gonna be your Sergeant, okay!? A- tteeeeention!"

"Enough bullshit," Erik ignored the bear, "Where are we?"

"Upupu..." the bear laughed, sending chills down my back, "That's for you to find out!"

"Fuck that, tell us what's going on!" Erik shouted at the bear, raising his voice again.

"You can't order me around! I'm your Sergeant!" the bear raised its claws again, "But, I will anyway, just for you... Upupupu..."

"It seems you bastards have been stationed here for a... permanent stay!"

"P-Permanent...? Aito stuttered out.

"Well, there is one way to leave..." the bear replied.

"How!?" Erik yelled immediately.

This bear popping up definitely made the fourth thing I wasn't expecting today. But I'm pretty sure it's not even noon, and the fifth thing has already made its way here.

"Murder. I want murder."

...

It was deathly silent. Nobody dared make a move, or a sound. _'What does he...?'_

"Anyway you want! Shooting, knifing, hitting, all kinds of weapons are at your disposal!" Monokuma laughed, but at this point I could barely listen. _'Why... does...?'_

"If you can get away with killing each other, then you can leave!"

...

As Monokuma continued explaining, people started shouting. Screaming. Kicking. _'This...'_

"M-Murder!? I-I won't even let anyone _think_ about that!" Sumiyoshi yelled.

"No... no, n-no!" Aito backed away, with a grip on Masamoto's arm, who backed away with him.

"We're supposed to _murder_ if we want to leave?" Yamashita said. "That's... disgusting..."

The room had exploded into chaos. I was denying it, this couldn't be happening. _'Th-th-this isn't right. This i-is just... j-just a prank... just...'_ I wasn't sure what I was feeling, for a while. This empty, desperate feeling. I'd felt it before... but was it ever like this? _'Was... it?'_ I had eventually came up with a word to describe the situation. I don't know why I chose that word, or why I felt like fainting after I realized it, but it was all that came to mind.

Despair.

I was feeling despair.

* * *

><p><strong>BOOM FIRST CHAPTER. So in this we have all 16 students, somewhat of an explanation of the place they're staying, and Monokuma! I'd say this was a pretty productive chapter but uh... don't expect chapters to be this length. I usually only ever write 2-3k word chapters, so idk where 6k came from. Only time that'll ever happen if it's an important chapter, but yeah, we're finally getting this started! The way this is gonna work is kind of like the actual game: There'll be a few full 'Chapters'(like episodes), and parts in between. And expect around weekly updates(although I'm not consistent with my updates so probably won't be until next year when I start writing the next part). Anyway, thanks for reading everyone...<strong>

**Let's get the ball rolling!**

**Edit: I was in a rush and forgot to do things. First off, thanks for the great response to the first chapter! Don't worry, if your character didn't have much time here, they will. I plan on giving everyone their own time to shine. I'll be replying to reviews next chapter.**

******Second, I think I got everyone pretty good so far, but if I messed up with anyone's OCs, please tell me! I don't want to go through the whole story writing someone's character completely wrong, or giving them the wrong name, or something like that.**

**The next chapter(part) will have the investigation of the area, and Free Time Events begin soon, so start voting for characters you'd like to see FTE's with! Since this is in a first person perspective, it'll only be Hitaka and whoever else in the story. Send them in reviews, or PMs, or however you'd like.**

**I think that's it. I'm gonna go away now. Expect the next update in a certain amount of time.**


	3. Chapter 1 Part 2: Investigations

"Hey. Hey, Hitaka, you still with us?"

I only snapped back to reality some time later when Toori shook me out of it. Monokuma was gone, and everyone was still talking amongst each other, or rather arguing about the situation.

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine." Honestly, I wasn't. My head was killing me, and I seriously needed to just sit down somewhere.

"Here, come on," Suzuki grabbed my arm, and took me over to a bench. I gladly took a seat and put my head in my hands, closing my eyes.

"This is terrible..." Placide said, sitting next to me on the bench.

"We'll be fine," Erik said next, "Our captor doesn't seem very smart. None of us will kill."

"Are you sure about that?" Jokuno asked. "Obviously, the captor is an idiot, but how much smarter are we?"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean!?" Haru followed.

"We don't know if anyone is going to actually believe that bear." Jokuno answered. _'He's got a point...'_

I rubbed my temples in an attempt to get rid of this headache I had. I just wanted to go home, for someone to come out and say 'got you!', but I had this feeling inside of me that this wasn't gonna go away. This was real. This was happening. _'I'm actually being kidnapped and forced to kill if I want to leave... that's real nice.'_

"Well, all we gotta do is hold out, right?" Toori asked, from in front of me. "Help will arrive eventually!"

"The U.N will realize I'm missing," Erik replied, "They're probably already trying to find us."

"S-So... we'll be fine...?" Masamoto asked, barely a peep.

"Of course! We'll be... wait, Hitaka?" Sumiyoshi replied. _'Nononono-'_

"Hitaka! Are you alright!?" she ran over, probably seeing me like this. I lifted my head, and saw she was already crouched in front of me, most likely getting ready to examine me or something weird like that.

"I'll be fine, don't worry," I said.

"Are you sure about that?" Sumiyoshi replied, doubting. "You don't look so good."

"It's just a headache," I replied, simply. _'No one needs to start worrying about me now.'_

"If you say so..." Sumiyoshi frowned. "I'm not joking about seeing me later, okay? You need to take care of yourself!"

"Sure, sure." I waved her off, and everyone continued discussing.

"So, what do we do now?" Yamashita asked, standing in front of Placide, next to me.

"We need to just stay calm," Erik replied, "Help will come."

"And what if they _don't?_" Dakota snapped. "Fuck, you're acting all high and mighty. How do you know they're coming for _you?_"

"They will," Erik said without hesitation, "I have no reason to give up faith in the U.N now."

"She's got a point, though," Toori crossed his arms, "Even though I just said we should wait for help, we really don't know if they're coming, do we...?"

"We're not getting anywhere like this," Jokuno sighed, "We need to do something."

"And what do you think we should do?" Haru asked.

"First, we should find out where we are," Jokuno said, "Then, work on a way out. If help doesn't come, then if you listen to me, we'll be perfectly fine."

"Alright, alright... That works." Toori replied.

"Okay." I finally decided to say something. "Give me a few minutes. I'll help investigate or whatever."

One by one, everyone agreed with Jokuno's plan. Figure out where we're being held, and try to get out ourselves. I wanted to believe Erik, that the United Nations are looking for him, but the others brought up a good point. They might not come. And I'd rather not sit here twiddling my thumbs waiting for someone to save me when I don't even know if they're trying.

Some of the students started leaving, some opting to go alone, a few going together. I seen Jokuno and Erik go together, Masamoto and Aito seemed to not want to go alone either, and a few others like Hizen went by themselves. The last people in the room ended up being me, Toori, Suzuki, Yamashita, and Haru.

"So... Hitaka, how're you doing?" Toori asked me, taking a seat next to me.

"I'm fine, I guess," I said, "Just a bit of a headache." It was going away, thankfully.

"Damn, man. This is messed up." Toori sighed.

"We should band together," Suzuki said, determined. "I mean, all of us should, but the five of us can work together."

"Well, it's better than going alone," Yamashita replied, "I'd be happy to help!"

"Kind of like a team, huh?" Haru said, "I like it. I call leader!"

"Well, I think she meant _without_ a leader..." Toori scratched the back of his head.

"Hitaka? What do you think?" Suzuki asked. I thought it over, for a second. I'm usually not that trusting, I'll be honest. But for some reason, I felt like maybe I can trust these guys. Like I can call them friends. The others I know barely anything about, but only a handful of them I know aren't going to backstab me. _'...literally, too.'_

"Yeah. Yeah, sounds good."

"Alright! So let's do this!" Toori replied.

"Okay! So what should we do now?" Yamashita asked.

"First we should investigate," Haru replied, seeming more determined, "And I wanna see if we can climb those fences. There was a bunch more buildings over there."

"Sounds like as good a plan as any," I say. "Let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>INVESTIGATION START<strong>

* * *

><p>The first thing we did was investigate the building. At least, the one floor available to us. In the first hallway, there was a trash room, men and women's bathrooms, and a janitor's office on the left side. On the right side, was a simple closet. The first room we went in was the trash room.<p>

_/Trash Room_

Well, it was exactly as I expected. A ton of trash cans and garbage bags lay all over, and a huge incinerator took up the back wall. It appeared to need a key and a passcode to open. The room smelled, obviously. There wasn't much else to make note of, so after that the five of us left to the hallway.

_/Entrance_

We decided to look in the bathrooms next. Toori and I took the men's, while the rest took the women's. To be fair, we shouldn't have been expecting much.

_/Bathroom_

It was as we thought. On the left wall was two sinks with a mirror, and a wall seperating them and four urinals. The right wall had six blue stalls, and the room seemed clean. The toilets weren't dirty at all, oddly enough, like someone just cleaned them. Nonetheless, it was a normal bathroom.

_/Entrance_

We met up right outside the bathrooms. The girls said the women's bathroom was normal, just like ours- except for one thing. The last stall, the seventh, was locked. And the door wasn't like the others, it was much taller, starting from the floor and reaching the ceiling, meaning it'd be impossible to look underneath or over the door. The walls of the stall were the same, so you couldn't go in from the neighbouring stall. It was definitely weird, but either way, we continued into the janitor's office.

_/Janitor's Office_

It was a small, tiny janitor's office. A small shelf took the back wall, with a few cleaning supplies on it, and a heavy broom lay on it, the mop in a bucket of water. The supplies didn't seem right, each one had a little picture of that bear on it, and warnings like 'Highly Flammable!' and 'Deadly Poision!'. A few rags also took the shelf, all dirty and brown.

"Y'know, with these bottles, and those rags, someone could get hurt..." Toori noted.

"Hopefully no one uses these for that," I replied.

"Should we hide them? So no one uses them? We'd have the advantage!" Haru added.

"I don't know..." Suzuki thought aloud. "We're the last ones out here, I'd imagine everyone seen them already."

"Yeah, but they wouldn't be able to use them," Haru argued.

"But wait," Yamashita said, "Like Suzuki said, we're the last ones out. Everyone would probably think we took them, and that might be bad."

"Ehhh..." Haru frowned, probably realizing we shouldn't take the bottles.

"I think that's everything for now..." I said, "Let's go."

_/Closet_

We went to the last room in the hallway, the closet. It was just like it sounds, but more home-y. It was more like a big walk-in closet for a house, and the walls and floor were made of wood. Each wall, left, right and back, was filled with hangers. Most of the hangers were empty, except for few jackets that'd probably fit us, and most likely belong to the others who weren't wearing jackets, and on the back wall a few camoflague jackets. They were light, and had nametags on them.

"So, wait. Who are these guys?" Haru said, looking at the jackets.

"Well, let's see..." I say, grabbing the jackets off the hangers. _'Let's take a look at these nametags.'_

_O'CONNOR_

_WALKER_

_OSHIMA_

_SHIOTAMI_

_MURATA_

"Huh. You think they owned these?" Toori asked.

"They must've," I replied, "but I wonder who they were."

"Soldiers?" Toori offered, "I mean, they are camoflagued."

"Maybe... we'll have to come back here later," Suzuki said.

"I think that's all we're gonna get out of here, though," Yamashita said, "At least for now."

"Yeah, let's go." Toori said.

_/Entrance_

We came back to the entrance hallway. We'd looked over everything, each of the rooms, and now there were two more hallways to this floor- the split going left, and the split going right. We agreed on going through the right split first, since the gym was on the left and we had all went through there.

_/Right Hallway_

The hallway was pretty bare. We seen a few people there, groups investigating and talking amongst themselves. Seems like we weren't the only ones to check this hallway first. The walls contained more bathrooms, which we decided we can probably just skip, another big room at the end of the hallway, and another room on the right hand side.

The room on the right hand a sign on it reading _ARMORY_ in big letters. It was locked, and appeared to need a keycard to open.

"Woah. An actual armory? Like, with guns and all that?" Toori commented.

"I guess so..." I replied. "Looks like there's no way in for now."

We continued on, to the last room. There were two big brown doors, like the gym, and a sign above reading _Mess Hall._ Since there wasn't anything else of interest, we walked on in.

_/Mess Hall_

Well, it was a basic cafeteria. In front of us, taking the middle of the room, were two spaced tables, put horizontally. They were long, obviously meant for eating. There were benches on either side of the tables, as well. The right side of the cafeteria had counters with display cases supposedly for food to be in, but all was empty. Behind the counters was a kitchen. On the left, were a bunch of empty trash cans and recycle bins, behind a few small round tables. The cafeteria was empty of people, except for Placide and Asai investigating together.

"Yo! Guys!" Toori called out to them.

"Oh, hey!" Asai waved to us. "You guys find anything?"

"No, nothing really," I replied. "There's a locked armory over there, and in the bathrooms we found a locked stall. That's it, though."

"Hmm... yeah, we seen those too. I wonder what's in that stall?" Asai said.

"What about you guys?" Yamashita asked.

"Nothing much. We just left the kitchen, and were on our way out." Asai replied. Placide simply smiled and went along with Asai.

"What? How'd you get to the kitchen first?" Haru said, her competitive nature showing.

"W-Well... we did leave before you guys..." Placide replied.

"True..."

"We should probably get going," Suzuki said, "Sooner the find out where we are, the better."

"Yeah, good point," Asai replied, "We'll see you guys later."

"B-Bye." Placide said.

After we parted ways, the five of us decided to see if there's anything in the kitchen.

_/Kitchen_

It was a normal kitchen. Ovens and sinks took the left wall, with a large counter in the center of the room. Above the counter were a bunch of pans, and in the shelves of the counter was some food. The back wall had some more ovens, and some knives hung up on the wall. On the right side was some more food, just scattered around on counters and such. In the back right corner was a big fridge, filled to the brim with refridgerated food. In front of the fridge, were Masamoto and Aito, who we just now noticed.

"Hey, guys!" I called out to them.

"E-Eh!?" Aito spun around, apparently not hearing us walk in. Masamoto also turned, about as surprised as Aito. _'...'_

"O-Oh! H-Hi..." Masamoto greeted us. Aito opted for a little wave.

"You guys find anything?" I ask. I waved off the rest of the group, as they continued investigating the kitchen.

"N-No.. well, actually..." Aito said.

"M-Monokuma came." Masamoto finished for Aito. _'Wait, what?'_

"Wait, you saw him!?" I blurt out.

"Y-Yeah... wh-when we got here, he came. He said the food restocks everyday..." Aito replied.

"The food restocks?" I ask.

"It's like... a-automatic... each morning, th-there's more food in the kitchen." Aito explained. I nodded, hearing the odd explanation. _'So I guess Monokuma comes and puts more food in here.'_

"Alright, thanks guys," I said, "Guess if there's nothing else, we'll be on our way."

"Um, okay," Masamoto replied, "B-Bye."

_/Right Hallway_

Well, that hallway wasn't very exciting. Except, I'd like to know what's in that armory. If there's actual weapons in there, that might be a problem. Some more people passed by, and I assumed they were done with the left hallway. None of us got a good look at that hallway, since we were in a rush to the gym earlier, so we decided to go there next.

_/Left Hallway_

First off, more bathrooms. Again, we decided to skip them, considering that's not really the most important thing right now. But damn_,_ they have a lot of bathrooms. In the same hallway was a laundry room, another room labeled 'Shower Room', and the gym. We decided to go into the laundry room first.

_/Laundry Room_

"...but, if you clean it with this instead, you get the tactical advantage of your clothes being cleaner."

"Yes, but that's expensive. I'm surprised this place even _has_ that brand."

The first thing we noticed was an argument between Erik and Jokuno. The topic seemed... questionable, though.

"What, can you not afford it?" Erik asked, holding a large bottle of some kind of cleaning detergent.

"Not all of us work with the United Nations, Erik." Jokuno sighed.

"I supp- wait, hey! Hitaka, come here!" Erik ended up noticing us, and called me over. _'...Do I want to be a part of this?'_

"Uh, yes?" I walk over. The rest of the group, clearly confused, decided to stay out of it. I noticed that they immediately started examining things on the other side of the room in great detail. I'm not entirely sure why this was necessary for a washing machine.

"What brand do you use? This one..." Erik raised the large bottle, "...or this cheap one?" He grabbed another much smaller, definitely cheap looking bottle.

"Ugh, just leave him-" Jokuno facepalmed, and got cut off.

"Quiet!"

"Well, I usually just buy the cheap-" I attempted to reply.

"God dammit!" Erik shouted, and suddenly whipped the cheap bottle across the room with accuracy, effectively exploding and throwing the detergent all over the place. ...It connected with Yamashita.

"Wh- huh!?" Yamashita spun around, before looking down and seeing the soap covering her arm.

"...Why did you think that was a good idea?" Jokuno asked, probably geniunely confused. As for me, I was scared. So I kind of ran. And hid behind Yamashita.

"What are you doing!?" Yamashita asked, pushing me away. Of course, I fell backwards. Making the back of my head connect with the sharp, hard, _painful_ corner of the nearby washing machine.

"What the hell is going on?!" Toori dropped whatever cleaning supply he'd been investigating for the past five minutes and shouted. I barely heard, though, since I was too busy clutching my head in pain.

"Good job, Erik. You probably gave the kid a concussion." Jokuno sighed, again.

"Well, I didn't think she was going to push him!" Erik attempted to defend himself.

"I-I didn't know he was going to hide behind me!" Yamashita replied immediately.

"...Guys are weird." Haru stated. Suzuki agreed, and they walked straight out of the room, leaving Yamashita and us behind.

"Guys," I moaned, finally standing up from my comfortable spot on the ground. "I think I need some ice..."

_/Left Hallway_

I eventually managed to escape, somehow. The rest of the group minus Haru and Suzuki met up outside the room, and we decided to continue investigating. I seriously needed to take a nap, my head has taken enough damage for one day. But, nonetheless, I tried to pull through, and we went on to the room labeled Shower Room.

_/Changing Room_

We walked into a changing room. It was just like something you'd see at a pool or something, with lockers on both walls, and a bench in front of each. A small, grey carpet sat underneath the benches, and around that was a wooden floor. On the farthest wall, was a door, and a window next to it, probably leading to the showers. And so, we went through the door.

Sure enough, a large room showers lay before us. Both walls had stalls from one end to the other, each having a shower head and necessities like body wash. The floor had white tiles, while the walls were brown, as well as the stalls. Haru and Suzuki stood at the back of the room, and as we regrouped with them, Toori brought up a good point.

"...So, uh, shouldn't there be another room? For the girls?" Toori stated. _'Oh. That's gonna be awkward.'_

"Yes, there _should,_" Haru replies, obviously agitated or embarassed over it, "But there isn't!"

"Well, we can just use our showers, right? In our rooms?" Yamashita asked.

"Mine doesn't work," Suzuki replied. "I tried turning it on but nothing came out..."

"W-Wait, _what?_" Haru asked right back.

"I don't know," Suzuki said, "But... I think we need to use these."

"...screw that." Toori walked right out.

"Um." Yamashita followed. _'Yeeeah. I'm just gonna go.'_

_/Left Hallway_

We reconvened in the hallway. There wasn't anything else there, aside from the gym. I seen some people step out of it, doing their own investigations. Some of them headed to the mess hall, I noticed. Anyway, after the shower room, we were done with the building. With nothing else to do here, we continued on to the next part: the outside.

_/Barracks_

Zipping up our jackets, we stepped outside into the cold. Going straight from warm heaters to the freezing cold of the winter kind of sucked, I won't lie. We seen Kisaki outside of his room, investigating the door, so we decided to go see if he found anything.

"Hey! Kisaki!" I called out to him, walking over to the far left side, where his room was.

"What? Oh, hey!" he turned to us, seeing us come.

"So, uh, you find anything?" I ask.

"Not really," he replied, looking thoughtful. "Oh, wait! Some of the others came. We're meeting up in about ten minutes at the mess hall."

"Huh. Guess we should hurry up out here." Toori replied, mostly to us.

"Well, alright. Seeya." I said to Kisaki, before we continued on. The rest of the area was bare, except for Dakota, looking at the fences boxing us into this square. I notice she's now wearing a thick black coat and what appeared to be skiing gloves. Taking a quick look at the fences, I see barbed wire on top, and a rather large black and white sign reading _Electric Fence! Don't get killed!_ with a little picture of Monokuma's face at the bottom. The only word that came to mind was 'disgusting'. _'Well, I've greeted everyone else I seen, might as well talk to her too...'_

"Hey! Dakota!" I call out. I briefly notice everyone else 'toughening up' for this.

"...'fuck did all you guys come from?" Dakota turned around, and greeted us cheerfully.

"Well, um, we're investigating," I replied, "Did you find anything?"

"Even if I did, do I have some kinda reason to tell you?" she said. _'Thought she'd say that.'_

"Well, no-" I attempt to reply.

"Then go away." Dakota cut me off, turning back to the fence. _'I guess we aren't getting an actual investigation of this thing...'_

"That was... fast." Toori commented, as we walked away.

"I guess we're done, then," I replied.

"Guess we should head back to the mess hall or whatever?" Yamashita suggested.

"Yeah, I guess so," Haru said, "C'mon, let's go!"

Haru ended up running back to the building. Again, not wanting to be 'that guy', I thought I might as well follow her. I kind of don't like it when I see people alone, when they obviously don't want to be. I start running, and hear a "Oh no you don't!" from Toori, as he starts running alongside me. Next thing we know, the five of us are in a race.

Somehow, Suzuki was the winner.

"How'd... how'd you get past me!?" Haru said, once she reached the doors.

"I've had practice," Suzuki replied, giggling.

"...Ugh... no... no more running..." Toori said, barely making it out through heavy breaths.

"...yeah..." To be fair, I was kind of the same thing.

_/Mess Hall_

We make our way to the mess hall, and already a bunch of people are there. Groups conversed with themselves, some taking their own table, some talking together with others on one of the long tables. We decided to put ourselves on the closer long table, alongside Sumiyoshi, Kisaki, and Hizen sat at the other end, in thought.

"Hey," I say to them, simply, before sitting down. I take the end, and Toori sits next to me, while the rest of the group put themselves in along the line.

"Oh! Hitaka, how are you doing?" Sumiyoshi asks, as soon as she sees us. Kisaki nods to us.

"Fine," I reply, "My headache's gone now. Now I'm just tired, honestly."

"Maybe you should get some rest later," she says, "You look better though."

"Heh, that's good, then."

After a bit more small talk, more and more people arrive. Some more people sit at our table, and we talk a bit about our investigations. Apparently, no one had been able to get in the laundry room until now, thanks to that heated argument between Erik and Jokuno. _'I still don't understand exactly what happened there.'_

Eventually, the doors slam open, and the last missing person arrives. Erik. _'Huh, we were just talking about him.'_

"Ahem," Erik clears his throat loudly, getting everyone's attention. I turn to the door, seeing him standing tall, with his hands behind his back.

"I'd like to call a meeting," Erik said, "If everyone could come to this table, please?" Erik walks over to our table, and stands at the right end of it. Some people are reluctant, or some just didn't care, but everyone came.

"What are we doing here?" Kenta asked.

"First of all," Erik puts his hands behind his back again, "We should discuss where we are. It'd appear we might be in a military base of some sort."

"Never seen a base looking like this," Toori replied.

"Yes, it seems... futuristic, would probably be the word." Erik said.

"So why would we be put in a military base?" Asai wondered. The table grew quiet, as we pondered possibilities.

"I think it's too soon to say," Erik replied, "But that's not important. Did anyone find a way out?"

Everyone murmured a 'no', and shook heads. Not one person found anything at all. Everyone explained their investigations, and what they had found. Turns out we all did basically the same thing, and didn't miss out on important info. Someone mentioned that there was more 'supplies' like in the janitor's office in the laundry room, which I hadn't knew, due to being knocked almost unconscious. Other than that, really, nothing of importance was made known.

"So there's still no way out yet." I stated. Everyone pretty much just sighed in response.

"So what do we do now?" Kenta asked. Erik looked away, in thought about something.

"Tch. You've been being our damn boss since we got here, don't tell me you don't got anything now." Dakota said.

"Well, for now," Erik said next, "We should return to our rooms. I do not think we can make a move just yet."

Everyone was quiet. I think the weight of the situation was starting to finally kick in. I was still doubting everything. Whenever some crap happened, I'd get out of it eventually. But, now, I was starting to have second thoughts. _'Am I really trapped here...?'_

Erik said a few more words, and left. More people stood up and returned to their rooms. I noticed some were going alone, rather than sticking to their investigation group. I continued sitting. Eventually it was just me and a few others at the table, but I didn't bother trying to get up. _'I'm going to get out... right? Right?'_

"U-Um..." I heard Aito start to say something. I look up, seeing the remaining people at the table. Aito sat across from me, next to Masamoto and Kisaki. Hizen still sat in this spot at the end of the table. Toori was next to me. The rest of the sixteen students had left.

"Yeah, what's up?" Toori asked.

"...N-No one's going to kill... right?" The table grew silent once more. I looked around. I looked at the faces of the people I'm stuck with. And I saw emptiness. I saw nothing resembling happiness. Toori, from right next to me, had a look of doubt. Doubting himself. Doubting everyone. And I couldn't help but feel the same.

_'Is there really a way I can trust these guys?'_

I decided to stand up. I walked at a faster rate than usual. I pushed the doors open, going through the hallway. As I walked through dim-lighted building, I thought. I thought about everything. _'I can't. I don't know anyone here. How the hell am I supposed to just trust these people?'_

I pretty much bashed the front doors open. Everyone had returned to their rooms by this point. I didn't care about the cold. I didn't care. I just kept moving. _'I'm not letting it happen again. It won't.'_

I opened the door to my room, pulling it quickly and slamming it closed. I didn't even bother taking my jacket off before collapsing on the bed. I took a deep breath, and attempted to calm myself. _'God dammit. Dammit, if I'm like this...'_

I closed my eyes and continued breathing. But that _word_ came back. That feeling. Despair. It returned. I felt my head begin to pound again, like before the investigation. I raised my hands and put my head in them. All the while, I thought. I was doing a lot of that recently. I came to a conclusion, a conclusion about everything.

_'I can't trust anyone. I need to get out of here.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Woo, investigations! This was supposed to be up a few days ago, but, I was busy. By busy I mean playing Persona 4. Yeah. Anyway there we go, guess this counts as the first real chapter of the story! Investigations won't always be this, eh, boring. Once it's actually about murder and people are dying it'll get more interesting. By the way, if I got anyone's character wrong, please tell me, and I'll see what I can do. Thanks for reading! Next chapter might be sooner? Maybe? I did beat Persona 4 so... (well I still have Persona 3 to play now but uh) (oh and on the topic of Persona 4 EVERYONE PLAY THIS STUPID GAME DO IT TRUST ME)<strong>

**Edit: I FORGOT THINGS. First off next chapter might be Free Time Events! So make sure you vote for those! You can send them by reviews, PMs, however you want. The character(s) that have the most votes will get the FTE. Voting for your own character is fine, too!**

**Second, thank you all for the great feedback! This is the first time I've written something like an SYOC, and the first time a story of this kind, so it's good to hear! Hopefully I do this right. Hehe, hope.**

**Ok yeah that's pretty much it so I'm gonna go now**

**[Edit: Changed the shower room scene. Now, there's a changing room. Because those are, y'know, necessary.]**


	4. Chapter 1 Part 3: A New Life

**Woo! Update! Yeah this took longer than it should've. Before reading this, I suggest you go back to Part 2, as I made a major edit just now: adding a changing room to the showers. That's a thing that you need. Usually. So yeah.**

**[Edit: Gonna just put a warning now for some messed up stuff later in the chapter.]**

* * *

><p>Honestly, I don't really know how long I spent in that bed. I know that at one point I threw my jacket onto the nearby desk, but for the most part, I just sat there. I ended up falling asleep, taking a nap. I dreamt of home. My family. And I had to wonder, where are they now? Are they at home, waiting for me to come back? Are they out looking for me themselves? Or do they even care? I knew they did, but I just couldn't help but worry.<p>

I woke up from my dreams what I think was a few hours later to a sudden beeping noise.

My eyes unwillingly opened, rolling over to the desk, where the offending noise came from. Underneath my jacket, I saw a light. A square-shaped light, as if from a smartphone or something. After a few moments, the light turned off. But, oddly enough, there was another beep, and the light turned back on. _'What the hell is that?'_

I eventually decided to stand up from the bed, feeling somewhat refreshed. My headache was gone, but I wondered if it'll just come back again. I went over to the desk, moved my jacket, and seen a weird _device_ there. It looked like a smartphone, like I thought, but different. Smaller. I picked it up, examining it. It had a black, steel case, and on the back was definitely something surprising- the crest of Flying Stars High School, where I should be right now.

Another beep. The screen came to life again, reading a notification of sorts.

_You have (3) new messages. [Read] / [Close]_

Confused, I tapped the Read button, on the screen. Some kind of application opened up, where I was brought to what looked like a chat room.

_Group Chat_

_[12:32PM]Asai Midori: "hey, I just found out about this thing, anybody want to go eat?"_

_[12:33PM]Sven Erik: "im gna stay careful with the food tho"_

_[12:33PM]Kenta Keiro: "since when did you talk with texting lingo?"_

Sure enough, it was definitely some kind of chat. On this device thing, seemed to be something I can talk to the others with. Apparently everyone has one of these. I noticed myself hesitating to reply, upon reading the message. Looks like we'd been invited to go eat. Sure, I was hungry. But, did I really want to risk going to this? Do I know if I can trust anyone yet? _'No, I don't think she would... but...'_

_'No, there's no way. It's too early. Besides, if everyone's there, it'd be impossible, right?'_

I decided that I was honestly too hungry for this.

_[12:34PM]Hitaka Yuushi: "Sure, I'll be at the mess hall in a few minutes"_

Before leaving, I took a quick trip to the washroom. _'Hope there's good food. Actually, I hope the food isn't poisonous or whatever.'_ I washed my hands, grabbed my jacket, and was out the door.

I grabbed the device from my pocket and decided to mess with it as I walked through the cold. There was a small button at the bottom, doing exactly what I thought it'd do- turning it on, and off. It had a touch screen, and a page of applications, much like an actual smartphone. There were mostly utilities, seemingly no internet, or an actual phone. I read the applications, so I knew what was on this thing.

_CLOCK[Preview: 12:37PM]_

_CHAT(4 new messages)_

_MAP_

_EVIDENCE_

_MONOKUMA FILES_

_RULES_

_REPORT CARDS_

If I wasn't confused already, I definitely was now. With 'Evidence' and 'Monokuma Files', this didn't seem like something from Flying Stars. I tapped each one, only to get nothing whatsoever. Figures. Next thing I tapped was 'Rules', to see what that was all about.

**1. The students will live the rest of their lives with no interruptions or time limits at the base.**

**2. Between 10:00PM and 7:00AM is 'Night Time'. During this time, the shower room will close.**

**3. Sleep is only permitted in the barracks. Sleeping anywhere else will result in punishment.**

**4. You may investigate as you please. There are no restrictions on your actions.**

**5. Violence against your sergeant, Monokuma, is not permitted. Destruction of the security cameras is also forbidden.**

**6. One shall escape if they kill another student, and hide the murder in the Class Trial.**

**7. More rules will be added if necessary.**

_'Did Monokuma write these?'_ I looked at the rules, reading each one in disbelief. Did he actually want us to follow rules, too? I wanted to throw the thing to the ground, and leave it in the snow. But, I thought, and I realized something that'd probably help me in the long run. _'Dammit. I should probably just play by these rules.'_

I put the thing in my pocket and walked into the building. The weird shape of the floor greeted me, and I took the direction heading right. I saw Hizen walking to the mess hall, and thought I might as well try and say something.

"Uh, hey!" I call out to him. He turns, and sees me following him.

"Ah, hello," he greets.

"So... how've you been holding up?" I ask.

"Fine, I suppose," he replies, "And you?"

"Same," I say, "Hungry, for the most part."

"Myself, too," Hizen chuckles to himself, "I hope the food is decent."

"Heh, yeah," I say. "Maybe it'll even be edible, who knows."

Hizen nods in agreement, and we enter the mess hall. It was mostly empty, aside from Asai, Aito and Masamoto, Jokuno, and now Hizen and I. Aito and Masamoto were sitting at one of the smaller round tables, eating some sandwiches or something, and they seemed to be talking a bit more. Jokuno ate alone, at one of the long tables, and Hizen went to go sit across from him. Asai sat alone at a round table, and as I saw her, she waved me over.

"Hey, Hitaka!" she greeted, as I took a seat. I noticed she had no food.

"Hey, how're you doing?" I asked.

"I'm alright," she replies, "But I'm hungry! C'mon, let's get some food!" Asai stands up, and starts walking over to the kitchen. _'W-Wait for me! Ugh... wonder what they have for food, anyway.'_ I didn't really look into the fridge that much, so this was gonna be a surprise to me.

Asai and I go into the kitchen, and begin searching for food. Asai opened the fridge with gusto, and looked in for something. I walk over next to her and start looking.

Apparently, they didn't have much for food by itself, but a lot of packaged food. There were a ton of these small brown packages, with the letters _MRE_ on them.

"Huh," Asai pulled one out and read it, "Meal Ready to Eat. Warfighter Recommended, Warfighter Tested, Warfighter Approved." I grabbed one too, and sure enough, this was some kind of military MRE, like I thought. It seems I grabbed chili with beans. _'...alright, why not.'_

"So I got..." Asai continued to read her MRE. "Chicken with noodles. What about you?" she asked.

"Chili with beans." I won't lie, I was kinda scared. I heard bad things about MREs.

"Well, okay, then. Let's eat! I guess!" It seemed Asai was a little hesitant about them too.

We headed back into the mess hall, where more people had arrived. The round tables were taken, so we went to the second long table, where it was mostly vacant. Setting the packages down, we opened them up, ready to see what was inside.

Of course, inside the brown package, was a bunch more brown packages. Each one labelled differently. Now I was just confused.

"Huh? What are we even supposed to do with these?" Asai asked, holding up one of the bags. I decided to read each one and see what's going on here.

One box-like thing had the words _CHILI WITH BEANS_ on it, so I assumed that was the actual food. With it, was a package reading _MEXICAN STYLE CORN._ For the food, was a small plastic spoon. Another package had... peanut butter in it, for whatever reason. And to go with it, was some strawberry jam. To finish the snack off, there were some crackers. And yet, there was also a small bag of candy, too. A big plastic bag with the words Flameless Ration Heater and a small bag of accessories finished the MRE.

"Okay so... how are we supposed to eat these?" I wonder, reading the Flameless Ration Heater bag.

"I don't know!" Asai replied.

"You gotta heat it up with that thing!" Kisaki suddenly said, from down the table. He was eating some kind of MRE as well, sitting next to Sumiyoshi. "You need to grab some water, and a couple plates, too!"

"Ohh!" Asai looked at the 'thing', the Flameless Ration Heater, and looked to me. "Hitaka, go get the water and whatever!"

"Wait, I don't know where that-"

"Just go!"

"Fine!"

Grumbling, I stood up. _'Okay. So we need some water, and some plates for the food. Alright, that's fine, but where the hell are those?'_ I walked over to the kitchen, and began my search.

The first thing I did was go into the fridge. Water goes in the fridge, right? I know that much, so if I can just get that done, then we'll be golden. Almost golden.

The huge fridge was filled to the brim. I didn't really notice, but whoever packed this thing is not very tidy. I might need to organize this thing later. On the door was some beverages, including juice, and milk, and... wait, water!

I grabbed the large jug out of the door and noticed how light it was. _'Wait, if it's that light...'_ I looked inside the jug. _'...Empty. Of course it's empty, why wouldn't it be empty? God dammit.'_

I looked through the three shelves of MREs but found no water. I noticed some food by itself, like turkey slices, and wondered why I didn't just take that instead. _'Maybe underneath the shelves?'_

The last place to look was underneath the bottom shelf, where bigger things like steak and vegetables lay. Pushing the food around, grabbing for anything, I suddenly got a hold of something. Something cold, and...

_'Wait, here we go!'_

Pushing some meat to the side, I saw eight small bottles of water. Success. I grabbed two, and put them on the counter in the middle. That's one thing down, now for the plates.

I closed the fridge and started opening shelves. I found some glasses, a shelf with forks and knives, as well as some random accessories like straws, but had a hard time finding the plates because of course I would. I found some pots and pans, which would be good if I knew how to cook, but that's obviously not the case. Some canned beans and such also took the shelves, and should I find a can opener perhaps that'd be useful. But, seriously, I'm gonna need to organize this place later.

I opened a large shelf next to the ovens, and lo and behold, bowls and dishes sat inside. I remembered Asai got chicken and noodles, and I got chili with beans, so I grabbed two bowls. _'Objective complete.'_

Taking the two bowls in one hand, and the bottles in the other, I left the kitchen. More people arrived at the mess hall, while a few had gone already. I seen Asai at our table, examining the MREs.

"Alright, so, I got the things," I said, as I came to the table. I put the bowls and bottles down, and took a seat.

"Finally! Let's eat, I'm starving!" Asai replied, opening the box holding the chicken and noodles, pulling out yet another package. I opened mine, and got the same thing- a white pouch with the words Chili With Beans printed on it.

"Okay, so, Kisaki said to use these right?" I say, as I grab my Flameless Ration Heater. The instructions say to put the food inside, put a bit of water, put it back in the box, and lean it on a rock or something for about ten to fifteen minutes. No, seriously, it literally says a 'rock or something'.

"Um... so we put this in here, right?" Asai opens her heater, holding the pouch of food.

"I think so? Maybe?" I reply, helpfully. _'I still have next to no idea what I'm doing!'_

I slip the pouch containing my meal into the heater bag. I take the cap off of my water, and carefully pour a bit in, making sure not to go past the 'do not overfill' lines. Seemingly nothing happens, so I keep going, folding the top part over the MRE. It starts to feel warm, I notice, as I put it back in the box holding the pouch. _'So... now I lean it on a 'rock or something'. Well, I don't see any rocks...'_

I decide to lean it against my bowl, making sure it doesn't fall, and see how Asai was doing. She wasn't faring much better. Holding the bottle over the heater, she carelessly spilled water into it.

"Wait- wait, you're gonna-" I tried to make sure she doesn't overfill, but...

"Oh crap." Asai accidentally tipped the bottle forward a bit too much, and went well past the overfill lines. "Um... it's still good, right?"

I take a look at the bag. Yeah, it went past the overfill lines, but not _too_ much. Well, there was a lot of water in it, but... the more the merrier right? Right?

"Well, uh, it should be fine?" I say.

"I- I guess." she folds up the MRE, and does the same as I did, stuffing it in the box and leaning it against her bowl.

An awkward silence filled the air as we began to wait for the food to heat up. I silently prayed that we didn't mess everything up too bad.

"So, uh, Hitaka," Asai begins, "What do you do?"

"Well..." I think of my hobbies. I didn't really have many, which was kind of weird, but I said a few things off the top of my head.

"I go to the gym," I say, "I box. Been doing it for over a year now."

"Oh! Yeah, I seen you hitting that bag earlier!" Asai replies. "That was impressive."

"Heh, thanks," I say. "What about you?"

"Well, like I said when we met each other, I'm a Taxidermist," Asai smiles, "I've been doing it since I was young, and started working for money. Now museums hire me for my art!" _'Woah.'_

"Wow. I guess they aren't kidding when they say Super Highschool Levels are the best at what they do, huh?" I reply, referring to the Flying Stars message boards. One glance at the threads will tell you just how amazing the Super Highschool Levels are. _'Actually... I never read anything about these people, did I?'_

"Haha, thanks!" Asai laughs. "That's still so weird though... how'd you forget your own Super Highschool Level?"

"No idea," I sigh, "I hope it was something good."

"Maybe you're like... the Super Highschool Level... Gym-Worker-Outer-Person?"

"Could you imagine?" I joke, thinking about it. _'What would that be, Athlete? Yeah, definitely not me.'_

"Haha, well, I hope you figure it out soon," Asai says.

Some more time passed. We had some more small talk, and eventually ate our MREs. Mine looked like this weird slop, and looked inedible, but it turns out it was. Didn't taste too bad, actually. I'd eat it again. Apparently Asai's chicken with noodles tasted like crap. But, either way, we finished the things. I felt much more refreshed, and we went our separate ways afterwards.

_'Well let's see now. It's almost 1:30PM, and we still have the rest of the day to pass. According to the rules, that's... eight and a half hours, until Night Time. Assuming no one kills each other, which I pray doesn't actually happen, it doesn't look like I have much to do...'_

I lazed around in my room, messing with the weird phone thing. I still don't understand when I got this, nor do I understand the rules. _'What was that about a class trial? Do we have to get away with the kill, too?'_

"Upupu, you found your ElectroID Hitaka?"

"AH!"

A voice suddenly jerks me out of my thoughts, and in front of the bed, was Monokuma, staring up at me.

"H-How the hell'd you get in here!?" I backed the hell away from the thing. _'Wh-Why is he here!? How-!?'_

"Upupu! Whatever do you mean, Hitaka? I was always here!" Monokuma said.

"Wh... What do you want...?" I attempted to calm down, and ask. _'If I'm too nervous, that'd be bad... I'm talking to our captor, I should be calm. In fact, this is kind of an opportunity to get some info.'_

"Since you were too busy spacing out earlier, I thought I'd come help you out with that thing, since I'm such a nice bear!" he replies, putting his paws to his chin. Or mouth, whatever. I stayed silent and let him continue.

"That right there's an ElectroID! It has the rules, info about all your classmates, even a map of the area! Wow! Amazing!"

"You can also talk with the other bastards if you want, but don't think you're safe! That's totally monitored! And keep it PG-13, y'know?" Monokuma started sweating. _'Why does a robot...? Ugh, nevermind.'_

"Now if you're a good little student and read the rules, which I know you did because I have cameras everywhere, I bet you're confused about the Class Trial, aren't cha?"

"Uh, yeah," I reply.

"Well! When someone murders their classmate, we have a Class Trial to figure out who did it! You bastards get together to finger the culprit, no, not like that you dirty bastard, and if you do, the culprit gets punished! By punished I mean executed! And if you don't, he walks free, and everyone else gets punished! By punished I mean-"

"Yeah, yeah, I got that," I cut him off. "So if we figure out the culprit, they get... executed? Like, killed? And if we don't, everyone else..." I suddenly gulp.

"Yep! I have a deadly execution chamber for all of you bastards! Each one is super creative, made by moi! I remember this one time, there was this student who played baseball, so- ack! Spoilers!" Monokuma covered his mouth with his paws.

"Uh... huh."

"Class Trials are the best! Well, you probably wouldn't think so. Or, maybe you would...? Upupupu..." Monokuma does that stupid laugh thing. _'What's that supposed to mean?'_

"Is there anything else?" I ask.

"Upupu! Yes, of course! Could you come to the gym at around, oh, ten o'clock tonight? Just before Night Time? Pweeeease?" he replies.

"Sure? I guess?" I say. _'I guess it's not like I'm busy or anything... though I have a seriously bad feeling about this...'_

"Upupu! Why thank you! I'll be off now!" he runs over to the door. _'Wait, no! I'm not finished with you yet!'_

"Wait!" I call out to him. He stops, and turns around.

"Yeees?"

"Why... how... why? Why did you do all this?" I ask. Monokuma goes silent. I really didn't expect him to say what he did next.

"For despair, Hitaka. Despair. Maybe you don't feel it yet, but give it time. You will fall into despair. Upupu..."

* * *

><p>After that very off-putting statement, Monokuma left. I felt my head begin to feel heavy, and before I knew it, it began to pound again. <em>'That's like the third time today... I should do something about this...'<em>

Throwing on my jacket, I managed to leave the front door. This one was way worse than the one earlier. I thought about what Monokuma said as I made my way to the main building. _''You will fall into despair.' What was that about? Despair... despair... what is despair? Why does that word always...'_ I couldn't figure a thing out. Despair, for whatever reason, that word appeared to be a big deal here. I couldn't count how many times it had popped up today in my mind, and now Monokuma's saying it, like he has some kind of obsession with it. And I felt like... I seen something, when he said that. Not Monokuma. But the captor behind it.

I made it to the mess hall before I even realized it. I seen a few people there, eating a late lunch, or some just talking with each other. I briefly observed and seen a strong trust growing between some, while others examined everyone with hateful eyes. I suppose, minus the hateful eyes part, that's kind of what I was doing. A few acknowledged I entered the room, nodding my way, or waving, but thankfully no one started conversation.

I rushed into the kitchen, and quickly went into the fridge for a bottle of water. My head was still hurting, and...

_'...wait, huh?'_

...

I felt...

like I was remembering something, suddenly... _'Despair...'_

_"You will fall into despair."_

_"Despair is everywhere. You cannot escape it."_

_"You... will... fall..."_

_'W-What the fuck!?'_

"Arrrrgh!"

I suddenly shouted in pain, gripping my head. A sharp pain suddenly shot through my head, as I was remembering something. I almost fell, but grabbed the counter as support. Someone ran in, and came to my side.

"H-Hitaka!?" Sumiyoshi. Of course, the doctor.

The sudden pain began to subside as she walked in, and for some reason the headache seemed to be calming down. Seemed to be gone as soon as it came, not that I'm complaining. _'Sh-Shit... what the hell was that?'_ I returned to reality, and shakily stood up straight. My breath was still short, and through it all I'd been sweating bullets, but I eventually managed to calm down.

"Are you okay?" Sumiyoshi asked, concerned.

"I-I... I think..." I reply.

"What was that? You just started screaming!"

"M-My head..."

"Come with me." Sumiyoshi grabbed my arm, and we walked out of the kitchen. The brighter light of the mess hall actually blinded me for a moment. Sumiyoshi led me to a table, and sat me down. _'Guess it's time for that examination of hers...'_

And so I was right. She put her hand to my forehead, and by the look on her face, I could tell it wasn't very good. She took a good look at my eyes, inside my ears for whatever reason, even did the 'say ahh' thing and looked in my mouth.

"Well, I can't really tell without a flashlight or anything," Sumiyoshi began. "But you're burning up. You probably have a fever."

"Well, that's just great." I reply, sarcastically.

"You should go get some rest. Why'd you let yourself get sick!? We need everyone at full strength!" she suddenly started scolding me.

"I didn't _want_ to get a fever..." I sighed.

Sumiyoshi grabbed me a water bottle and walked me back. I told her that wasn't necessary, but she insisted. To be fair, I didn't want to collapse in the middle of the snow, so the help was welcome. Before we knew it, we were at my door.

"So, uh, here we are, I guess," I say.

"Yeah..." Sumiyoshi sighed.

"Eh, you alright?" I ask.

"...Before this, did you have any family, Hitaka?" she suddenly asks.

"Uh, yeah, I did," I reply. Two parents and a little brother. _'Huh, I wonder how they're doing, actually...'_ "Why?"

Sumiyoshi simply nods, and sighs again, before responding.

"Well, I hope they're okay," she says, "Just get some rest."

"Yeah, of course," I say, "Don't overdo it, y'know? Keep yourself in check too." I decide some words of encouragement may help. Sumiyoshi nods, and smiles, before walking off.

* * *

><p>I sat in my bed, looking over the ElectroID. The time was now 3:45PM. I'd pretty much been just sitting in my room the past couple hours, deciding if I'm going to rest I might as well look at the thing. The rules still read the same thing. I briefly thought if I could find a loophole, or something, I could use that to my advantage. But, honestly, if our captor is really serious, I'd probably get axed if I tried. So I decided against that. The last rule, more rules will be added if necessary, kinda worried me. Will it be necessary? Will someone try their luck at a loophole? I hoped not.<p>

I ended up finding myself _bored._ I mean, I was totally okay with this, nothing happening is miles better than something bad going on, especially with whatever's happening here. However, the situation was rather quiet, I thought. We're kidnapped and being forced to kill each other. Are we supposed to just wait? See how long we can last? I was eternally grateful that there weren't any explosions and/or fire, but it didn't seem right. I eventually remembered Monokuma's invitation earlier, to come to the gym before Night Time. Is that what we're supposed to be waiting for?

_'Well screw that.'_

Disregarding the fact that I should probably rest today, and hope the quietness continues, I got up. I wasn't feeling as good as I was earlier, I won't lie. More tired, kind of run down. _'I swear, if I manage to get a cold...'_ Either way, I took my ElectroID, put on my jacket, and went out the door.

I finally seemed to be getting used to the cold. I'm still damn freezing, but, it wasn't as bad, I suppose. Wish I had a scarf or something, though. I walked through the deep snow to the building, deciding that shit may or may not hit the fan tonight- I might as well get back into my groove of boxing. _'Hit the bag a bit, move around, maybe lift a weight or two, that's all. Don't need to tire myself out.'_

The building seemed to be empty. The hallways were, anyway. Made sense, not much to do out here, and the rooms were at least somewhat warm. I ensured my gloves were on, and took off my jacket as I entered the gym.

_'Hell yeah, it's empty.'_

I don't really know why, but I always liked working out alone. Maybe so no one interrupts? Maybe I just don't like talking to people? Well, no, that can't be it. I'd say I've been pretty social around everyone here. So, wait, why does it feel like that's a step forward? Have I not always been like this? _'Well... yeah, that's true, I haven't. Kind of surprising, actually.'_

I throw my jacket on the bench, and position myself in front of the bag. I jab at it a couple times, just to get into the motion. Next, stance. _'Well, let's get started I guess. One, two.'_

My left hand connects with the bag, hitting a left straight. As the bag moves, I move with it, and throw a right cross. _'Not bad... one, one, two.'_

Left again. Before it moves too far, I jab again, sending it even farther. Then, right cross. _'Okay, one, two, three.'_

Left. Right. I twist my body as I hit a left hook. _'Um, alright, how about... one, two, slip, two. Yeah, sure, let's do that.'_

Jab. Cross. I slip my head to the right, as if to dodge an incoming punch, and come back with another right. As the bag comes back, I move back with it. I grab the bag and put it straight again. _'Okay, okay... one, two, slip left, one.'_

I repeat the same combination, this time slipping to the left instead, and throwing a jab. Putting the bag straight, I continue on. _'Alright... one, two, three, four.'_

Jab. Cross. Hook. Uppercut. The uppercut didn't really connect the right way, due to the shape of the bag, but I can still do it. I do a few more combinations, before deciding I should try movement. _'Let's try...one, two, right, one.'_

Jab. Cross. I move my right foot, and bring the rest of my body with it in one quick motion. Straight.

I moved around some more. Ducking, slipping, moving. Staying light on my toes. Dancing around the bag. Honestly, I was in my own damn world, and managed to forget about everything else. Sadly, all things come to an end, as the door suddenly slammed open. Stopping the bag, I turned to whoever it was at the doors.

"Oh, hey! Didn't expect to see you here." Haru walked in, greeting me.

"Heh, hey," I say, finally stopping to take a breath. _'I probably should've grabbed some water...'_

"Boxing some more?" Haru asked, taking off her jacket, doing the same as I did and throwing it on a bench, revealing a dark lavender blouse underneath.

"Yep," I reply. I decide against saying anything about Monokuma's invitation or whatever, for now. "What about you?"

"Just working out a bit," Haru smiled. "Not like there's anything else to do."

"Yeah, true," I say. "I'm gonna go grab myself a water, you want anything?"

"Sure, I'll take one too," Haru replies.

I nod, and go on my way. I leave the gym, and head on. I wondered if Haru knows about whatever's happening tonight, I imagine I'm not the only one who was invited. Everyone probably was, actually. _'Still... maybe I'll stay silent about it. Unless she brings it up. Or should I deny it? Gah, I hate this...'_

I made it to the mess hall, and pushed the doors open. Seems like I've been here a lot, today. I saw Kenta sitting at a table, reading something on his ElectroID. He looks my way, but doesn't bother saying anything. I simply nod to him, and go past the counters into the kitchen.

I grabbed two bottles of water out of the fridge, and was about to leave, before Kenta stopped me, suddenly.

"Wait, Hitaka." he calls out to me.

"Uh, yeah?"

"You're coming tonight, right?" he asks. _'Huh? Is he talking about...?'_

"To what?" I ask.

"To the goddamn parade, that's what. No, you know what I'm talking about, don't you?" he snapped.

"...You're talking about Monokuma's invitation or whatever, right?" I reply.

"_Yes,_ that. Well?" he asks.

"I guess we don't really have a choice, so..." I say. "Yeah, I am."

Kenta nods, and turns around. Without saying anything else, he grabbed his ElectroID and walked past me and out the doors. _'What was that about?'_ After watching him leave, I exit the mess hall with two bottles of water in hand.

I return to the gym, and see that Haru is still there, in the middle of some push-ups. As she hears me walk in, she gets up, and walks over.

"Hey! What took you so long?" she asks, taking a bottle out of my hands and taking the cap off.

"Ran into Kenta," I reply, taking a sip of the water.

"Oh," she says, "How's he doing?"

"Fine," I say, simply.

After some more small talk, I return to my routine, and Haru returns to hers. The rest of the workout was mostly silent, and I pretty much just continued hitting the bag. Eventually, I was able to dodge an incoming hit, throw a punch, move around, all without a problem. I felt more prepared, more ready if anything were to happen tonight. I felt safer. Again, I was in my own world. _'I wonder if boxing was the talent that got me in to Flying Stars?'_

Eventually, about an hour passed. I decided I was finished, so I drank the rest of the bottle, and said goodbye to Haru.

"Alright, uh, I'm gonna be goin' now," I say, putting on my jacket.

"Aw, you're leaving?" Haru jokes, standing up from doing her stretches.

"Yep. Guess I'll see you later?" I reply.

"Yeah- oh, wait, hold on." she suddenly stops me, and stands in front of me.

"So... hey, what do you think of, well, boxing?" she asks.

"It's..." I found myself actually stopping to really think about it. "It's fun, I guess the word would be. Next to a few other things, it's really the only thing I _know_ I'm good at." I admit. The only other thing would be when I played guitar, and I'm decent at other sports, but...

Haru nods, before continuing.

"Well, um..." she stops for a moment, in thought. "Stick with it, y'know? Don't give up!" _'Oh, what, is she trying to motivate me?'_

"Well, yeah, I will," I say. "You neither. Keep at it with soccer." Haru suddenly looks almost sad for a moment, as if thinking on something, but smiles again.

"Yeah. See you later."

* * *

><p>I left the building, standing in front of the doors. The sun had begun to set, signaling the end of another day. Sure, it was only around six o'clock, but it was the middle of winter after all. Now we had around four hours until Night Time, and I noticed I was getting increasingly worried. Okay, no, not just worried. I was downright scared. It's the first day of us being kidnapped, and now we're being told to get together at night. What is this about? Our captor's obviously insane- is there really any way to know what's going to happen?<p>

I continued to just stand there, and I felt a sense of familiarity. The brisk chill of winter, past the ankles deep in snow, an orange sky, and standing in front of a building. All I need now was a cigarette. _'...wait, what? I don't smoke... though, can't say I don't know people who do...'_

I didn't want to return to my room. I was tired, I was cold, but I didn't feel safe. I won't feel safe anywhere, but, I just wanted to stay out here. Was it the atmosphere? Did I not want to return to Monokuma in my room again? Really, I didn't know, but there was just _something_ about the situation. None of it was good, but... I don't know, I really like sunsets.

Suddenly, something shook me out of my thoughts. Something cold- and wet- and on my nose. Then it happened again. And another. I look up to the sky, and see the reason behind it.

_'Snow.'_

It was snowing. Snowflakes fell from the sky, adding to the pile in front of me, and on my jacket. It came slow, and due to the wind, was angled to my left. I usually don't care for things like nice scenery, but...

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

_'Yeah, that works...'_

_'...wait, I didn't say that.'_

I turn to my side, and to my surprise, Suzuki stood, smiling, looking to the horizon.

"Where'd you come from?" I ask, half-jokingly.

"I was in the building," she replied, "I seen you standing here, so..."

_'Oh.'_ I nod, and continue staring ahead. _Now_ it felt right, standing here with someone. _'I couldn't make this any cornier if I tried, could I?'_

"So where've you been all day?" Suzuki asks.

"Well, let's see... took a nap earlier, had some lunch, sat in my room for a couple hours, and, I just left the gym," I reply. "You?"

"Investigating," she says, "There's definitely no way to leave this area."

"Damn," I say, "Did you find anything else?"

"No," she sighs, "Oh, wait. Did Monokuma ask you to come tonight?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah he did. You too?"

"Mhm. I wonder what it's about..."

"Can't be anything good," I sigh. "Maybe if we're lucky, he's gonna tell us this was all just a sick joke or something."

"Maybe," she says, "By now we should've been home from our first day..." _'First day? Oh, right, Flying Stars...'_

"Yeah," I reply, "Hopefully someone'll realize there's something weird about an entire class of kids missing." Suzuki nods, looking downward.

"I'm gonna go back to my room," Suzuki says, "Don't stay out too long."

"Alright then, see you tonight, I guess." I nod in her direction, as she walks off to her room. _'I'm not done yet...'_

I walk to the other side of the area we've been encased in. The electric fence. I figured finishing my investigation was in order. The signs were obviously placed by Monokuma, or he at least painted the signs. The 'warnings' were not serious whatsoever, they included that stupid 'upupu' thing that bear keeps doing, and were black and white. The wires, which made the entire fence, seemed somewhat sloppily made and there was barbed wire on top. Something about the position of the fence seemed off, but I wasn't really sure what. _'These wires don't power themselves...'_

I followed the fence behind the barracks and through the left side of the building. Every so often, a wooden beam would stand, connecting the wires together. More signs warned against getting too close, and realizing it'd be bad if I did, I followed them. I kinda wanted to touch them anyway, in spite, but I wasn't a fan of being fried.

The fences went around to behind the building. Past the back fences were banks of snow, and in the far distance were some more buildings of some sort. If I squinted my eyes, I saw what I think could be some runways, but of course there were no vehicles on it. Anyways, the wires wrapped around and connected through one large beam. The wires traveled down the beam, farther, and farther, until it continued past the snow. _'They go through the snow?'_

I bent down, and pushed the snow around, being careful not to touch the wires. The electric wires went through the pavement underneath the snow, and seemingly underground. _'Dammit. The only way to go underground would be through the elevator, and those are supposedly out of order... or are they?'_

* * *

><p><em><strong>New Evidence: Electric Fence's wires go underground. Presumably, there's a basement in the building./**_

* * *

><p>I wasn't ready to give up. I went back around to the front of the building, new information in hand. The area was still empty, I noticed. Which was good- right now, I'd like there to not be any interruptions. I opened the doors, walking inside the building.<p>

The heaters were rather welcome, as it's stupidly cold out. As I warmed up, I continued through the hallway, to the two elevators. Excessive amounts of yellow and black tape covered each one, claiming they're out of order. For whatever reason, I felt myself unable to believe them. So, I pressed the button, and called the elevator. Sadly, nothing happened. _'Crap... did he disable them?'_

I kept hitting the button. No sound, no light, nothing. So I went on to the next idea I had. Ripping off the tape. And that's what I did. Well, tried. As soon as I grabbed the tape, I was interrupted.

"Waaaait! Stooop!" a certain squeaky voice cut me off.

"Is there a problem?" I ask, turning around. Sure enough, Monokuma stood.

"What are you doing!? If it says 'out of order', it's out of goddamn order!" he yells.

"Is it? Is it really?" I crossed my arms._  
><em>

"_YES!"_ Monokuma shouts. "Well... maybe..."

"You disabled them," I say.

"A-Ack!" Upon me saying this, Monokuma suddenly disappeared, running out of the building. The next thing I heard, was a beep from my ElectroID, for some reason. I pull it out, to see a notification.

_A new rule has been added. [Read] / [Close]_

I tap the read button, to see the new rule Monokuma seemingly just added.

**8. You cannot break open locked doors, or elevators.**

_'Dammit. I guess we're gonna have to wait for those to open.'_ I had wanted to disable the electric fences, but it seems that'll have to wait. Although, I did get some information.

* * *

><p><em><strong>New Evidence: Monokuma stopped me from opening the elevators, and added a rule against it. It would appear he is sensitive about these things./**_

* * *

><p><em>'Alright then... but, aside from being unable to break open doors, we still have no other limitations. Let's see what else we can dig up.'<em>

I decide the next thing I should take a look at should be the bathrooms. I hadn't looked at the ones in the hallways, so I'll have to check those out too. I go into the girl's bathroom, the one with the locked stall. _'...hopefully no one walks in on me.'_

The bathroom was the same as the men's room, just instead of a wall of urinals stood a wall of stalls. And sure enough, on that wall, there was a stall unlike the others. It had a much larger door than the others next to it. Due to there being no handle to open it with, I was unable to get it open, plus, by simply pushing I could tell it was locked. I was about to bash it in, but I remembered Monokuma's rule. _'Maybe I shouldn't have tried to open those elevators...'_

I went into the neighboring stall, to see if it's possible to get in that way. The walls were as tall as the door, and there was no way over or under it. I briefly thought, this isn't a door, and could be broken, but I still didn't want to try my luck at a loophole, no matter how obvious it is. Besides, I don't think we have a way to destroy a wall. Either way, there was definitely no way in. Cursing under my breath, I left.

* * *

><p><em><strong>New Evidence: It's impossible to go into the locked stall in the women's bathroom. Will need to wait for an alternative./**_

* * *

><p>I continued on to the left split in the hallway. Two more bathrooms. <em>'There better not be any more locked stalls...'<em>

For better or worse, the bathrooms were empty of anything useful. No locked stalls, or information. And, it turns out there wasn't anything in the hallway on the right, either. Just two, abnormally normal bathrooms. No hidden doors, or anything weird like that. I admit I did actually push on the tiles, expecting something.

_'Hmm. Well, no one got a good investigation out of the laundry room, so that's next I guess.'_

I go into the laundry room, continuing my little investigation. The laundry room was as usual as they come, minus the cleaning detergent all over the floor, thanks to a certain incident. Four dryers took the right wall, and six washing machines took the farthest wall, two of them being larger for more clothes. On the left wall were some shelves bolted into the wall, cleaning supplies sitting on top. In the center of the room was a table, for folding clothes and such. I took a look at the supplies, and it seemed they were actual soaps and such, instead of poision and things like in the janitor's office.

Nothing of interest was in the room. I opened the machines, but got nothing. But, it would appear the room was actually there for cleaning our clothes. _'Note to self: If still here tomorrow, wash clothes. Especially socks.'_

* * *

><p><em><strong>New Evidence: Laundry room is made to actually clean clothes. Might be here for longer than expected./**_

* * *

><p><em>'I suppose that's about it... now I can only wait until Night Time. Seems like it's almost six thirty, so, three and a half hours.'<em>

I was about to return to my room, 'till I ran into Yamashita, who'd just walked in. I decide to go greet her.

"Hey, Yamashita!" I say. She notices me in front of the elevators, and walks over. She was now wearing a black jacket, over the sweater she'd worn earlier.

"Oh, hey Hitaka," she smiles. "Whatcha doing?"

"Thought I'd investigate a bit more," I reply. "Didn't get that great of one earlier. You?"

"Well, I was getting hungry, so I thought I'd get some dinner for tonight," she says. "Care to join?" _'Oh, huh. It's already dinner time.'_

"Yeah, sure," I say, finding myself hungry.

"Alright, let's go!" she replies, and we walk to the mess hall.

The hall wasn't empty, seems like some others had the same idea of getting dinner. Placide, Masamoto, and Aito took a round table. _'Of course the shy people would band together.'_ Dakota sat alone at a long table, while at the other end was Erik and Jokuno. The other table had Toori and Kisaki. Yamashita and I go sit with them.

"Hey, guys," I say as we sit down. The two were simply eating some sandwiches, which made a lot more sense than going through the trouble of another MRE.

"Yo!" Toori greets us. "How're you guys doing?"

"Fine," Yamashita replies, "Tired, for some reason..."

"I'm alright," I say, "Been investigating."

"Oh? You find anything?" Kisaki asks.

"Not really," I reply. Okay, maybe I did find a bit of information, but I decided hiding that might've been for the better right now. Especially because of the cameras in the room.

"Damn, man," Toori takes a bite out of his sandwich. "Oh, shih yu gais geh th-"

"Dude, chew with your mouth closed..." Kisaki says.

"O-Oh. Sorry," Toori says as he swallows. "Anyway, did you guys get the invitation? From Monokuma?"

"Yeah," I say, "I did."

"Me too," Yamashita follows.

"Not gonna lie, I'm so not looking forward to it..." Toori says.

"Wonder what he's gonna try and pull?" Kisaki asks, taking a drink of his water.

"I'm just hoping he gives some kinda information," I say. "All of this makes no sense."

"I know, right?" Toori replies. "Tch, maybe we'll even be able to leave."

"What did Monokuma say earlier?" Kisaki asks. "We gotta _kill_ to leave?"

"Yep," I sigh. "But we can tell whoever Monokuma is, is obviously insane. And we're a buncha highschoolers, what are we supposed to do?"

"Exactly," Kisaki says. "There's no way he can actually expect us to kill."

"Let's see. Our choices are kill and leave, or stay and survive. I'm up for option C, the one where someone comes and saves us..." Toori clicks his tongue.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Yamashita asks.

"Oh, we won't be here for longer than like, what, two days? Three at most?" Toori says.

"We got food and water, as well as everything else we need to live," Kisaki says, "We'll be fine. As long as Monokuma doesn't intervene."

"Intervene?" Toori asks.

"Honestly, Monokuma probably does know we won't kill," Kisaki says, "What if he tries to make us? Like, blackmail us or something? Jeez, what if that's what he's trying to do tonight?"

"Ugh. I'd rather _not_ get blackmailed," Toori frowned.

"Yeah, that'd suck," I say. "Though I can't say that doesn't make sense..."

"Just don't make sure you fall into his plans," Kisaki says, "No one can kill. Losing one of us... that'd just be terrible."

_'Fall into his plans...'_

"Hey, uh, guys?" I say to the group.

"Yeah?" Toori says.

"When Monokuma invited you guys... did he say anything about 'despair'?"

"Despair? What do you...?" Toori trailed off. "Oh jeez. My head, hold- hold on..." Toori took a sip of his water. _'Wait, what's with his head now?'_

"I think he said something like that to me," Yamashita said. "'You will fall into despair.' It was kinda weird." _'W-Wait a second...'_

"He said that to me too!" I reply. _'What the hell does that mean?'_

"Really?" Yamashita asks. "Huh. Despair..."

"Didn't he say that earlier? This morning?" Kisaki says.

"Did he? I think I spaced out or something..." I reply.

"Yeah, before he disappeared or whatever, he said, 'This is going to be despairingly perfect.' Likes that word, doesn't he?" Kisaki replies.

"That's weird, man, but, I think I'mma head on out," Toori says, "Need to rest for whatever's going down tonight, y'know?" Tooi grabs his water, and rubs his temples as he walks away from the table. _'Wait, where's he...?'_

"He didn't even finish his food," Kisaki says. Sure enough, his sandwich was only half eaten, while Kisaki seemed to be finished with his. "I think I'm done too, though. I guess I'll see you guys tonight." Kisaki nodded towards us, and left, leaving Yamashita and I at the table.

"Huh. Well then." Yamashita comments.

"Guess we should eat now?" I say.

"Yeah, I suppose," Yamashita says, "Let's see what else they have here."

We get up from the table, and go into the kitchen. I was not in the mood for another MRE, so I decided against that. A simple sandwich sounded appealing. I let Yamashita look for something to eat, while I grabbed some plates, actually knowing where they are this time.

"Uhh, does a couple of sandwiches sound fine?" Yamashita asks.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," I say. _'Now to look for bread. I believe the bread was in this one... yep, there we go.'_ I grab a loaf of bread and put them next to the dishes on the counter. Yamashita puts a bunch of sandwich meats, with turkey, bologna, and some others, alongside a bottle of mayo and shredded cheese.

"I wasn't sure what you like on your sandwiches, so I kinda just grabbed everything," Yamashita says. "So, uh, at least we have variety, right?"

"Yeah, that's fine," I say, as I grab the package of bologna. Taking out two slices of bread, I begin making my sandwich.

Yamashita takes the bread, and starts hers. I decide this is a good a time as any to start conversation.

"So. You play the flute, right?" I say as I spread mayo on my sandwich.

"Yeah," Yamashita smiles, "I probably would be right now if I had mine... and what about you?"

"Well, considering how I managed to forget what my Super Highschool Level is, I can't be sure," I joke, "Though boxing seems to be working for me."

"Oh yeah, I seen you on that bag earlier," she says, "You're a natural at it."

"Ha, thanks," I say. "Hopefully I won't need to throw any punches while we're here."

"Yeah, that's true," she says, "Don't hesitate if we find our captor, though!"

"Oh please, I have a whole routine picked out for him!" I joke. Well, not really, I _did_ have an idea of what I wanted to do to him. It gets uglier as the day goes on.

"Haha, well, that's good to know!" Yamashita smiles again. "It's so weird... we've been kidnapped, thrown into a game of life and death, and here we are making sandwiches." _'Oh my god.'_

I had to put down the cheese from how I burst into laughter at that. Yamashita joined in, and we ended up making a nuisance in the kitchen.

"Oh wow... I guess we're just really good at adapting, huh?" I actually had to wipe a tear. _'Oh man. It's been a while since I had a good friend to laugh with...'_

"I guess so," she says, finishing her sandwich. "Oh, and... Hitaka?"

"Yeah?"

"Call me Saya."

"Saya?" I ask.

"Yeah. It's what my friends call me." she says, smiling. _'Woah. Friend get.'_

"Heh. Alright then, Saya."

We eat our sandwiches, and I felt much more energized after. Ready. Pumped. For what, I wasn't totally sure, but I suppose I can use that motivation towards tonight. After we split up and returned to our rooms, the time was eight thirty. An hour and a half left. Lying in my bed, I decide to take out my ElectroID and go to the chat.

_Group Chat_

_[8:37PM]Hitaka Yuushi: "Hey"_

Opting for a simple greeting, I type in 'hey' and await response.

_[8:37PM]Takahashi Haruna: "hey!"_

_[8:37PM]Aito Doi: "Hello"_

_[8:38PM]Kisaki Yukijin: "yoo"_

Seems I wasn't the only one on my ElectroID.

_[8:38PM]Hitaka Yuushi: "You guys ready for tonight?"_

I type in the question, hoping I'm not the only one who was actually ready to see what's in store.

_[8:38PM]Takahashi Haruna: "totally! you better be ready to fight the captor if he shows up"_

_[8:38PM]Sumiyoshi Mizuki: "nono dont do that, u need to rest hitaka, dont overexert urself"_

_[8:38PM]Sven Erik: "well we all should rest until then, were prob gona see whoevers behind this"_

_[8:39PM]Toori Hisaru: "im not ready lol, my head's pounding"_

_'Am I the only one who types with decent grammar here?'_

_[8:39PM]Hitaka Yuushi: "I agree with Erik, the captor's probably gonna show up. Or something is gonna happen tonight, we should be ready"_

_[8:39PM]Yount Placide: "i guess we cant stay right? :("_

_[8:39PM]Jokuno Akimitsu: "He'll probably kill us if we do. I suggest we go and deal with it. And I'm just going to assume whoever's behind Monokuma isn't showing up yet."_

_[8:39PM]Monokuma: "upupu :3"_

_[8:39PM]Toori Hisaru: "get your two-tone ass out of here, monokuma"_

Jokuno had a point. We pretty much have no choice in this, and have to go. I'd like to see what would happen if someone doesn't show up, to see how serious Monokuma is, but we don't really have anyone to sacrifice. Yeah, sacrifice is probably the word.

_[8:40PM]Kenta Keiro: "monokuma. what is this about?"_

_[8:40PM]Monokuma: "upupupu"_

_-Monokuma has left the session._

_[8:40PM]Kisaki Yukijin: "...Yeah, he's probably still here"_

_[8:40PM]Sven Erik: "u no what. im gonna take a nap. if monokuma doesnt make an announcement wake me up. pls."_

_[8:41PM]Hitaka Yuushi: "No prob."_

A nap wasn't too bad of an idea. Though, there's no way I could sleep now. A few others decide to take one as well, but me and a couple other people stayed up.

_[8:43PM]North Dakota: "this is bullshit. why do we need to listen to that dumbass bear?"_

_[8:43PM]North Dakota: "...why the fuck does it say my name is North Dakota"_

_[8:43PM]Monokuma: "upupupu"_

_[8:44PM]North Dakota: "fuck you"_

_[8:44PM]Toori Hisaru: "So are people allowed to sleep or is that a problem"_

_[8:44PM]North Dakota: "fuck you too"_

_[8:44PM]Kisaki Yukijin: "wow"_

* * *

><p>9:30PM. An hour had passed. There's just thirty minutes left until Night Time. But, it seemed we're going a bit early.<p>

_Ding, dong, ding, dong_

Something like a bell ringing came from the room's monitor, suddenly. And on the screen, was Monokuma, sitting in a chair leisurely.

"Alright, y' bastards!" Monokuma's voice spoke. "It's time! Get your asses over to the gym! Stat! Now!"

_'Well. It's time.'_

_Group Chat_

_[9:31PM]Kisaki Yukijin: "Looks like it's time. Let's go"_

I pocketed my ElectroID, and grabbed my jacket. I noticed my heart beating rather fast, and I felt nervous. Scared. I guess we really have no choice, though, do we? It felt _wrong,_ but like I had thought earlier- I wasn't about to find out what happens if we stayed here.

I zipped up my jacket and left. The sky was now dark, a pitch black. No moon. No stars. Just... dark. The snow from earlier had stopped, but the wind only grew colder. The barracks were only lit by lights at each loudspeaker, much like streetlights on a highway. The white snow on the ground was a nice contrast to the dark sky, too. Some of the kids went alone, or went with their groups. Seems like everyone had their own allies already. I looked for the four I investigated with earlier, and found Toori and Yama- Saya, _'gotta get used to that,'_ in front of Toori's room.

"Hey," I say, as I walk up to them.

"Yo," Toori greeted, as he extended his hand for a shake. I grabbed it and gave a quick, friendly handshake. "Jesus, I'm tired. Maybe I shouldn't have slept."

"I don't even know how you were able to sleep," Saya says, "I was too nervous waiting."

"I dunno, my head was killing me earlier," Toori says as we begin walking, "I'm good now though."

"Oh, well good job," Haru suddenly walks up and joins us. "What's with you guys and headaches?"

"I know, right?" Saya says.

"Yeah, yeah, hello to you too Haru," I greet.

"Wait, what about me?" Suzuki comes, and puts herself next to me.

"Heh, there we go," Toori says, "Now the whole gang's here."

"I think we're the biggest group here," I say, looking over everyone else. The rest of the students seemed to be in twos, or threes, at most.

"Hey, the more the better," Toori replies.

"True that."

We follow the crowd into the building. Everyone is abuzz with talk, some looking forward to the event, some scared and lagging behind. I wasn't really sure where I'd put myself there, I mean, I was scared that something bad may happen, but if we're gonna get information, it was probably gonna be now. _'Maybe Monokuma'll tell us why we're here? Tell us it was all a joke? Or, what if Kisaki was right, and he's gonna force us into killing? Either way, this is gonna be interesting...'_

Eventually, the sixteen of us entered the gym. All of us huddled around, different places, and as for us five, we stood at the front of the room. Maybe that was a bad idea, but we were right in front of the podium, right where Monokuma'd be. Could be good, maybe. The room was loud, with everyone talking, but for a while, nothing really happened.

"Ugh, where is this guy?" Haru wondered.

"He'll be here soon," Toori said, "Though now that I'm actually here, I'm really not looking forward to this..."

I found myself agreeing with Toori. It was different thinking about going to this place, than actually being there. _'What the hell is he gonna do? Shit, this is bad.'_

"Upupupu..."

"W-Who said that?" Saya asked.

"He's here," Erik said.

"...Get behind me," I say to the group. My worries were getting bigger. Reluctantly, the group did move behind me.

"Countin' on you." Toori lightly pushes my shoulder.

"Well, well, well! It appears all you bastards are here!" Monokuma pops out from behind the podium, sweating. "I thought you might not have shown up..." The room was silent for a while, waiting for Monokuma's next move.

"Now! You're probably wondering why you're here, aren'tcha? Aren'tcha? Ooh, I just know you're all waiting, waiting for the main event to begin..." _'Main event?'_

"Usually, this'd wait another day or two, but, y'see I'm not a very patient bear. And I know you bastards aren't gonna do it on your own. So we're gonna get this ball rollin' _tonight!_ Everybody, I present to you, your first round of motives!" _'Motives...?'_

"Tell me. You bastards have family back home, don't ya? Family waitin' for ya to come home?" _'Oh, no. Don't. Please, no.'_

"Get on with it, bear," Erik said, through gritted teeth.

"Upupu! Looks like someone else here is impatient too!" Monokuma grabbed something from behind the podium. Small folders, each one marked with a name. Our names.

"Wouldn't it just be _terrible_ if something happened to your families? What if..." Y'know, I oughta start keeping count of things I'm not expecting while I'm here. I think right now's the second for today.

"What if they were held hostage and tortured to near death?"

_'...You. Little. Shit.'_

Monokuma throws the folders on the ground, and everyone's too shocked to move. I notice I'm at the front of the room, and everyone else is behind me. I've gotta be the first. Silently, and slowly, I bend down, and throw the folders around until I find mine. A brown, manila envelope, with the name 'Hitaka' scribbled in black marker. The rest of the group grabbed theirs, and some others moved up and took theirs.

The room is dead quiet.

I opened my folder, making no noise.

I took out the pictures inside.

And I screamed.

More screams followed from the rest of the room.

My eyes widened and my hands shook. I almost dropped the pictures, but I held onto them as tight as I could. My heart raced and I felt myself ready to faint.

Because when I saw my parents, and my little brother covered in blood, and missing _fingers_, it was the only thing I could do.

"Nyahahaha! Yes! That's what I was expecting! Look at them, just about ready to die! Despairing, isn't it!?" Monokuma. That's the only thing I registered in my mind. Monokuma. _'Monokuma...'_

"How the _fuck_ did you get your hands on these?" Erik said, malice dripping from his voice. No one else said anything, no one else _could_ say anything.

"Not important, you!" Monokuma says. "Now here's the deal! For the next twenty-four hours, your families will be brutally tortured! Unable to sleep, unable to die! Could you imagine!? Being tortured for a whole twenty-four hours straight!?"

"Tomorrow, at this time, if I don't see a murder... they die!"

_'...'_

_'...'_

"Off with the head! Poison! Stabbed! Shot! I don't know, somehow! But, if no one kills by twenty-four hours, they _will die._ And the longer it takes, the more they get tortured! So, hurry up, y'know?"

_'I'm... I'm gonna... f-fucking...'_

"Y-You c-c-can't do this!" Masamoto suddenly shouted.

"Oh? Whaddayou want?" Monokuma says.

"W-W-Why!? Why our _families?_"

"Why not?" Monokuma ever so simply replies.

_'In twenty-four hours my family will die.'_

_'And until then, they are going to be tortured.'_

I just saw my little brother missing three fingers and half the skin on his arm. Without even thinking, I looked over the room, seeing who'd be the easiest victim. Who'd go down without a fight. Who'd go down and no one would care.

"Well, I think I'll just leave you to that! Upupu, g'night everybody!"

...

...

I ran. I just ran. I smashed through the doors and sped through the hallway. I practically jumped through the entrance of the building and ran through the snow. I think I heard someone shouting after me, but I couldn't even be bothered to care. I got into my room, ran into the bathroom, and stood over the sink.

_'Th-that... that bastard... THAT FUCKING BASTARD!'_

I knew it. I knew I shouldn't have even went. Dammit, it could only have ended badly, but, shit, I had no choice. Barely ten minutes ago I was ready, ready to get information, I didn't need to see what I saw. I thought we were gonna see our captor. I thought he was gonna free us. This is the farthest from what I thought. I thought something _good_ could come out of this.

_Beep beep_

The ElectroID. I try to breathe normal, realizing that breathing so fast won't be good. I closed my eyes, and attempted to calm myself. _'Fuck. Fuck. I can't get anything done like this.'_

_Beep beep_

Another beep. I took a deep breath. Slowly, I reached into my pocket.

_You have (2) new messages. [Read] / [Close]_

I shakily tapped the read button.

_Group Chat_

_[10:02PM]Jokuno Akimitsu: "Everyone. Calm down. The pictures are fake, they must be. We're just letting Monokuma win here!"_

_[10:02PM]Takahashi Haruna: "HOW DO YOU EXPECT US TO CALM DOWN AFTER THAT!?"_

_'The pictures are fake...'_

No. I knew. They aren't. I wanted so, so much to believe that, to falsely believe the pictures were fake. But that was wrong and I knew it. They were too real. Too goddamn real. This is happening.

_[10:03PM]Sven Erik: "listen. he's trying to make us fight amongst each other. our families are most likely perfectly fine. we absolutely cannot let the enemy win, do you realize this?"_

Am I really going to take that chance?

_[10:03PM]Monokuma: "upupu. u have any proof of that erik? ur all powerless here. i think theres a looot in it for u if u kill tonight."_

...he's right...

_[10:04PM]Sven Erik: "No one's going to kill. No one here is that desperate. We know our families are safe."_

Are you really sure about that?

_[10:04PM]Monokuma: "go ahead and believe that, erik. i think its gonna be a beary interesting night.'_

_Ding, dong, ding, dong_

The bell, again.

"Alright, y' bastards! It's 10:00, and Night Time is now in effect! The shower rooms are now closed! G'niiight!" Monokuma's voice comes from the monitor.

_'I... I'd do anything for my family...'_

_'...but... can... can I really kill?'_

_[10:05PM]Sven Erik: "please for the love of god no one kill. i know for a fact our families are safe. and can you really kill? can you really step out that door and murder someone in cold blood? what happened to waiting for help, holding out and surviving? what if you get caught?"_

Erik brought up a couple good points. I found myself having second thoughts. _'There's... really no way I can bring myself to kill...'_

_[10:05PM]Sven Erik: "i want everyone to come to the mess hall tomorrow morning. we'll get through this."_

I decide to call it a night.

I silently hoped someone else wouldn't.

* * *

><p><strong>#thatmomentwhenyouaccidentallyspendtwoweeksmakinga10kwordchapter<strong>

**Right. So. I'm alive. Took me almost two weeks but I'm here. This was _supposed_ to be done within a week, and it was supposed to have like one FTE, and not be over ten thousand words, but that didn't happen. Ugh. Turns out I'm really bad at making scenes where nothing big is happening(even though that was the entire chapter). But, hey, we got motives! And they are really messed up! Anyway, this is probably how I'm gonna be handling things. Have a whole day in each chapter. Maybe not 10k words each but we'll see. Now, this chapter has the most interaction with everyone, so I'mma need to know now- am I messing up with anyone's OCs? Cuz this chapter pretty much established how everyone's personality is gonna be. I tried my best to have equal screen time for everyone, but, a few may not have gotten much time. Don't worry, it's not because I don't like your character, I probably just couldn't fit them in. Sorry about that. Replies to reviews:**

**Shadowplayer360: I know right? P4G is amazing! Currently my favorite game. Working on P3 now, really liking it.**

**Hero of the Dark: Thank you! Yeah, I don't really want to have chapters focusing on one certain character, so more often than not I'm gonna try to include everyone.**

**Veltrops: Yeah, I know, that seems to be happening. Swear I'm not doing it on purpose D: Like you said, with some characters it's somewhat unavoidable, although I'm gonna try to make sure everyone gets their time.**

**SHSL Slacker: Oh just you wait. I usually only ever write things like murder/death/blood/etc. so, yeah, shit's gon get real.**

**Susurruses: Heh, thank you! I figured a different, unique setting would be cool.**

**And I suppose that's it? To everyone else who reviewed, thank you so much! The support is awesome, keep it coming :D Sorry for the late update, btw(where I am it's currently 12:30AM), this was supposed to be out earlier but nope. Before I leave, I recommend you check out the Investigations chapter again, I ended up editing it a bit. Turns out that I forgot things like shower rooms need changing rooms. So the Shower Room has one of those now. Yeah. Anyway, thank you for reading! Will be back soon. Probably once I wake up since I'm most likely forgetting something here.**

**[Edit: Yep, I did forget something. Put a warning at the top of the chapter for the sudden motive scene. I sincerely apologize if I caught anyone with triggers off-guard, considering how graphic it was.]**


	5. Chapter 1 Part 4: Into The Black Pit

**DAY 2**

* * *

><p><em>Ding, dong, ding, dong.<em>

**"It is now seeeven AM! Time to wake up! Let's make today into the best it can be!"**

_'Oh for god's...'_

Opening my eyes, I quickly observed the room I awoke in. But, for whatever goddamn reason, that _goddamn_ desk was still there, I was still in that goddamn bed, in that god. Damn. Room. _'Come on... I couldn't have woken up in my room? Home? Have woken up from a horrible nightmare?'_

Sighing, I eventually swung my legs over, and got up. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, or lack of sleep, I stumbled into the bathroom. The first thing I did was look at myself in the mirror. And I looked like absolute crap. Bags under my eyes, said eyes were bloodshot, hair was a mess. I turned the water on, cold, and splashed some water on my face. Didn't help much. _'Maybe I should shower...'_

I somehow managed to get through brushing my teeth, though it wasn't for longer than like thirty seconds, and decided I might as well get the day started. I didn't _want_ to, hell I'd like to go back to bed for the rest of the day, but, the faster I get used to this new... life, the better. I put my jacket on, zipped it up, and left.

A cloudy, dawn sky greeted me. It wasn't as cold as yesterday, but still freezing. Also, turns out I'm not the only one who'd rather just go back to sleep. The only people that I seen were Sumiyoshi, Erik, and Masamoto. I'm pretty sure it was way too early for communication, so I didn't bother striking conversation.

I was the only one who thought that.

"A-Ah, Hitaka," Sumiyoshi greeted me. She looked troubled. I suppose that was because she hoped she'd woken up somewhere else, too.

"Hey," I mumble.

"How are you doing today?" she asks.

"Not much better..." I say. Thankfully I hadn't woken up to a cold, but I was still feeling seriously unenergized, probably thanks to whatever fever I have.

"Oh, um," Sumiyoshi replies, "Well, I hope you get better. We need to be strong, right?"

"...Mhm."

Once we got to the doors, Sumiyoshi hesitated. She sighs, and opens them.

"You alright?" I ask.

"Yeah, just..." she pauses. "I just wish we were home by now."

I nod, silently, and walk in. Think we were the first to go in, too. The hallway was dead quiet, except for someone else walking in, and-

_Beep beep_

_'Oh, the ElectroID.'_

Sumiyoshi's beeps too, and we take ours out, to see what's going on. But, instead, Erik interrupts us.

"Don't worry about that," Erik says, "That was me. Trying to get everyone up."

"Oh, alright." Sumiyoshi and I nod, as he walks ahead. We go through the hallway, heading to the mess hall for some breakfast.

As I walked, I noticed myself becoming nervous. Something was bothering me, but I couldn't put my finger on it. _'Huh... did something- oh no.'_

Memories suddenly returned to me, of the night before. The motives, the pictures, my family. _'Oh no... it's been like ten hours, have they...?'_

"Hitaka?" Sumiyoshi asks, and I realize I stopped moving. I sigh and continue walking. _'They're fine... maybe those pictures were fake... not like there's anything I can do, anyway.'_

"The motive," I reply. She looks taken aback for a second, probably remembering what she saw.

"R-Right... what about it?" she asks.

"I just remembered it," I say, "God, I hope those pictures were fake..."

Sumiyoshi nods, and we walk into the mess hall quietly. Seems the four of us, Sumiyoshi, Erik, Masamoto and I, were there first. Some more people walked in behind us.

"Morning," Jokuno greets.

"Heh, took you guys long enough!" Haru laughed. Looks like she was already up.

"Where were you?" I ask.

"Gym," she replies, "I got up before seven, so I can work out a bit."

"G'morning," Saya walks in, yawning.

The seven of us sat at the long table and decided to wait for more to arrive, before eating. The table was just a bunch of yawns, for a while.

"Ugh, so tired..." Saya yawns again.

"Hey, your yawns are contagious!" Haru pouts.

"But you don't seem tired?" Sumiyoshi asks.

"They still are!" Haru replies.

"Yawns aside, you realize we have a problem, correct?" Jokuno asks.

"What's that?" I ask.

"It's the motive, right?" Erik says.

"Yes. I seen how everyone reacted last night," Jokuno replies, "I wouldn't be surprised if we find fifteen instead of sixteen at this table today."

"W-Wait, what do you mean?" Masamoto asks.

"Last night was the perfect chance for someone to kill." Jokuno replies simply.

"O-Oh..." Masamoto looks away.

The doors open again, and the rest of the missing students arrive. Well, I assume it's everyone anyway, since such a large group walked in. Muttering greets, or cheering 'good morning's, everyone sat at the table.

"Looks like this is everyone," Erik says.

"...Should be," Jokuno looks over the table. He seemed unsure.

"Ugh... should be no reason to wake up this early..." Asai complains.

"May I remind you we've been _kidnapped?_" Kenta says. "I'm surprised anyone even slept."

"I barely did," Asai sighs, "I was up all night thinking about the motive."

The table grows quiet, as everyone mulls over the situation. _'Barely slept either...'_

"They're fake," Jokuno says with confidence. "It just seems impossible. Capture sixteen families, put the kids at a military base, then torture their parents to force them into killing each other? It's something out of a bad movie."

"Too fuckin' bad we're _in_ that bad movie," Dakota snaps. "Can you prove they're fake? 'Cuz I'm not takin' that chance."

"Well let's think about it this way," Jokuno says, "Who could have the resources, time, and money to get this thing happening?"

"Someone powerful," Erik replies, "Probably more than one person."

"Okay, so a group," Jokuno says, "Now, what kind of group can, and would, do this?"

The table is silent once more. What kind of sick person would do this? Can we even know?

"Could be military," Erik says, "Think about it. We're at a military base, and a fairly large one. It's not easy to take over a base, not with all the defenses. What if they already had it?"

"But... what kind of military would do this?" Saya says.

"...A private military company?" Erik replies. "I don't know."

"Does it _matter?_" Kenta says. "I'm all for getting information, but our priority should be getting out."

"And it still is," Jokuno says, "But we're stuck for now there, aren't we?"

"Can't we just take down the fence?" Sumiyoshi asks. "That rule doesn't say anything about fences..."

"Our captor will probably kill us anyway," Hizen says. "I do not want to take a chance at that."

"Why did that rule come up, anyway?" Jokuno asks. _'Oh, they're talking about the locked doors one...'_

"Uh. That might've been me." I reply. "I tried ripping the tape off of the elevators."

"Guess that didn't work," Toori deadpans.

"...no, it didn't." I confirm.

"Anyways," Erik begins, "I saw something, yesterday."

"Eh? What?" Toori asks.

"Runways," he says, "As in, for planes. They're behind the building." _'Oh, right.'_

"Oh, wait, I seen those too," I say. "But I didn't see any vehicles."

"There were definitely hangars in the distance," Erik replies, "If we can get over there, we can probably find some planes, and get out of here."

"The electric fence blocked it though, didn't it?" Jokuno says.

"Yeah," Erik says, "But I'm not about to play Monokuma's game. I propose we take down the fence."

"Woah, woah, wait," I say, "Shouldn't we just play along for now?"

"I've played enough," Erik replies, "I say we do it now. It's our only chance."

"Uh, dumbass, there's cameras in here," Dakota says, "I think you just told Monokuma all about our one and only game plan. If that were to work, anyway."

"Yeah, good job!" Monokuma suddenly appears, out of nowhere. "Just so you bastards know, I was going to kill you if you destroy anything. Don't try that crap with me!"

Monokuma ran over, and stood up on top of the table. Standing at the end, he started talking to us.

"So, did you bastards not notice something _off_ about this here table?" Monokuma says. _'Something... off?'_

The table is silent, as everyone looks at one another, at the table. Everything seemed fine, at least, until Jokuno suddenly stands up.

"...There's only fifteen of us."

"Upupupu! I wonder where they are? If I were you, I'd start looking..." Monokuma disappears, and I do a headcount of the table. _'...thirteen, fourteen... fifteen? W-Wait, that's not right. There should be sixteen!'_

"Woah, wait, he's just in his room," Toori says. "We're getting too-"

"I don't know about that," Jokuno says. "Monokuma made a point of showing us someone's missing. And with last night's motive..."

"Woah! Hold on, hold on!" Toori stands up. "You're not saying what I _think_ you're saying, are you!?"

"Search the area," Jokuno ignores him, "Erik and I'll go to his room."

"I'll stay in the building," Saya follows.

"A-Alright, me too," Toori says, "He's probably taking a shower or something, he's fine."

"I'll go search outside," Haru says, worried.

Everyone disperses, leaving me, Toori, Saya, and a few others in the mess hall. _'There's no way he's... nah, he's fine...'_

"Let's go check out the shower room," Toori says, to Saya and I, "The rest of you, just, uh, check the gym."

The three of us leave, in even lower spirits than before. My heart began racing again, and I was getting increasingly nervous. And I didn't know why- he's fine- right?

_'Him...'_

Without saying a word, the three of us walked to the shower room. Nothing. He wasn't in any of the stalls, nor was he in the changing room.

"Well if he ain't in here, then he's just in his room, right?" Toori says, eyes darting to every corner of the room.

_Beep beep_

The ElectroID suddenly went off. So did Toori's and Saya's. We all immediately take them out.

_Group Chat_

_[7:34AM]Sven Erik: "he's not opening up did anyone find him?"_

"Oh god _dammit,_" Toori mutters. "Where the hell is this kid?"

"In the gym?" Saya says. Yet that was immediately shot down, as the people who were in the gym said they haven't found anything. I type in a response, telling them we're having the same results.

"Bathrooms," Toori suddenly says. "Okay, there's three of us, and three bathrooms, let's go!"

We find ourselves in the hallways, and we split up. Toori runs in the bathroom in front of the showers, Saya goes into the ones in the other hallway, and I'm assigned to the one near the entrance. _'We'll find him. He's fine. He can't... no! He's not!'_

"Hey, you in here!?" I shout, running into the bathrooms, banging on each stall. I hear the others calling his name, doing their search. Finishing in the women's, I run back out.

"Hey, did you guys find him!?" Haru runs inside the building, followed by Erik.

"No, dammit, no!" I say. "You!?"

"Not a damn thing," Erik says. "Jokuno's still looking outside. He wouldn't open up."

_'Dammit!'_

The door to the closet opens, and out walks Asai, with a worried expression on her face.

"H-Hey, anything!?" she says.

"No!" I reply.

"He wasn't in the closet," Asai says, "Where is he!?"

Saya and Toori come, and I notice the lack of _him_ with them. Obvious that they hadn't found anything, we didn't bother asking.

"Where the hell _is_ he!?" Toori says, frusturated. "Don't tell me that he's actually-"

"No!" I cut him off. "He's not, dammit! Nobody did anything!"

My eyes suddenly fall upon the janitor's office. The tiny, dark, janitor's office. _'That's...'_

Everyone else followed my gaze. We had the same idea. I silently walked over. _'Th-this is the last place...'_

I grabbed the cold doorknob, and took a look back to everyone. I didn't bother thinking, as I know it's gonna be bad if I did that. All we needed to do was find him safe, and that's about it. With determination, I twisted the doorknob, and slowly... opened...

the... do...

...

_'...no...'_

_'...no, no, no... not... no...'_

Him. I didn't put a name to 'him', thinking it'll lessen the punch should one need to be thrown.

It didn't.

The truth stared us in the face. _Him._

I _almost_ screamed. Except any usage of voice was immediately taken away from me. My breath almost stopped. Everything stopped. Time slowed to a standstill.

Because we found him. We finally found him.

There he was, slumped against the wall, with a hole in his chest.

_Ding, dong, ding, dong_

**"Well lookie here! We got a corpse here!"**

I didn't even try to acknowledge it. But the announcement, Monokuma's voice, Monokuma's goddamn voice, snapped me into reality. This was reality. He was _dead_.

Dead.

Kisaki Yukijin, the Super Highschool Level Utaite, was dead.

**"We'll be having a Class Trial in a couple of hours, so use this time wisely!"**

"No... no way..." Toori backed away, whispering.

"N-_NO!_" I could hear Saya's voice vibrating, no doubt because of tears.

**"So please, investigate to your heart's content! Who did it? Who was the killer?"**

_'The killer.'_

Someone killed him. Someone killed... Kisaki. Someone murdered him.

"Where is he!?" Jokuno burst into the building, and went silent as he saw us staring.

**"Upupupu... I'm gettin' antsy here! So hurry up!"**

I stepped inside the room, looking behind me. Everyone had gathered, and devolved into a mess of screams and tears. The other fourteen. And one of them killed. One of them murdered.

_'I have fourteen suspects... one of them killed Kisaki...'_

Kisaki. I never knew him that well, _dammit,_ I barely knew the guy. I had one good conversation with him the night before, but that ended abruptly. Could I even call him a friend? I wasn't sure, but I still felt the need to find who did this. What sick person killed. I looked down upon Kisaki, Kisaki's _dead_ body.

He had a shocked expression on his face. Eyes wide open, mouth agape. There was a bloody hole through his chest, which tore through his clothes, through his skin, through his _flesh-_

_'Wait, what's that?'_

I notice something on the wall next to him. More blood. Except, it was in a very specific pattern.

Erik walked in, and saw what I was looking at. Then, he looked at me, with judgemental eyes.

"Hitaka. What is that?" he spoke sternly.

"W-Wait, what're you...?" Toori stuttered. I presume he saw what was on the wall, too.

"...Hitaka?" he asked, confusion and doubt evident in his voice. _'Why...?'_

I knew the reason why they suddenly seemed against me. Because on the wall, in no way helping my case, was my own damn name written in Kisaki's own blood.

"I didn't do it." I quickly defend myself. _'Why the hell is my name there?!'_ "I didn't-"

"Woah, hold the fuck up!" Dakota yells. "Hitaka, what's that about!?"

"No! Wait-"

"Seems the trial might be short," Jokuno says.

"No, no wait! He couldn't have, there's no way!" Saya says, in my defense.

"Well? Can you prove that, Yamashita? Hitaka, can you prove it? Can you prove you didn't kill Kisaki!?" Jokuno snaps.

"W-Wait! I didn't do it, dammit!" I shout. "I-I don't know, someone's framing me!"

"Yes, and that'd be Kisaki himself!" Jokuno shouts back. "Just admit it now!"

"No!" Saya yells, and stands in front of me. "He couldn't have done it, can we at least investigate for more than two seconds?"

"She's right," Toori says, "You're rushing this!"

"No, he couldn't have," Kenta says mockingly, "It's fairly obvious what happened here. Hitaka killed Kisaki, left him to bleed out to death in the janitor's office, and here we are!"

"I didn't _goddamn do it!_" I shout desperately. "For- For _fuck's_ sake, get the _hell_ off my ass, dammit!"

"H-Hitaka..." Sumiyoshi says, looking sad.

"That's a rather forceful denial," Jokuno says.

"Th-there's nothing to deny!" I reply just as desperately, "Please, I didn't-"

"Oh, how long is this going to take!?" Monokuma's voice suddenly popped up. And of course, there he was, standing alongside us in the room.

"What do you want...?" I ask, hesitantly.

"Upupu! I'm giving you bastards the first of what I hope- eck, hope- to be many Monokuma Files!" Monokuma exclaimed, and before we knew it, several _beeps_ came from everyone's pocket. The ElectroIDs. I take mine out, reading the notification.

_A new Monokuma File has been added. [Read] / [Close]_

"You bastards probably aren't even going to investigate," Monokuma looked sad, "So I'm helping you out! It's an autopsy report of our lost Yuki!"

Without saying a word to each other, we all opened the Monokuma File and read it.

**MONOKUMA FILE #1**

**VICTIM: KISAKI YUKIJIN**

**CAUSE OF DEATH: The victim has a small hole in his chest. The heart was also fractured.**

**NOTES: Death was instantaneous.**

_'That's... it?'_

"What's this supposed to be?" Jokuno said. "Autopsies are usually longer than three sentences."

"That's what the class trial is for!" Monokuma snapped. "Do I need to tell you everything!?"

"Considering that it would help us find the culprit, it'd help if you did," Jokuno replied.

"No!" Monokuma said. "I don't wannaaaaa!" Monokuma's voice trailed off as he ran out of the room, down the hallway.

"Hole in chest. What does it mean, Hitaka?" Erik asks.

"How am I supposed to know?" I reply.

"I think it would help if you stopped accusing him," Hizen says, "We do not know that he is the killer. Now, step aside..." Hizen pulls on his gloves, black leather gloves, and walks over to Kisaki.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kenta asks.

"I am an undertaker," Hizen says simply, "It would make sense that I know how to work with corpses, no?"

"C-Corpse...?" Aito stuttered out.

"Yes, corpse," Hizen replies, "He's dead, is he not? Now, please, I need space."

Erik and I stepped out of the room, and left Hizen to do his work. The thirteen of us stood in the hallway, and almost all eyes were on me.

"We should do somethin' about him," Dakota says.

"Oh for god's sake!" Toori raises his voice. "What's it gonna take for you guys to get off his case?"

"The fact that his _name_ is there complicates things," Kenta replies.

"But... something doesn't add up..." Suzuki says, in thought.

"A-About what?" Asai asks.

"No... it might be nothing," she replies, "We'll see in the trial." _'Huh... did she figure something out?'_

"I-I don't think Hitaka did it..." Masamoto says. "I-It must've been Monokuma! H-He killed Kisaki!"

"Oh _please,_" Dakota scoffs, "I don't know about that, girl."

"Hey! She's right!" Of course, Monokuma appears again. "Just so everyone knows, I'm not getting involved in this! S'all your guys doing!"

"Wait," Kenta says, "Do you know who did it?"

"'Course I do!" Monokuma says. "How do you think I'm gonna give proper judgement at the trial!?"

"Wh-who was it?" Placide asks, worried.

"I ain't telling you now!" Monokuma raises his claws. "Just get to investigating! I didn't do it, this train of despair is being driven by just you guys!" Monokuma then disappears somewhere.

_'Train of despair... I guess we're the conductors.'_

"Either way, he's right," Erik says, "While this _should_ be an open and shut case, our lives are on the line. I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, Hitaka."

"We actually _need_ to investigate?" Dakota sighs. "Whatever."

And so it begins. The rest of the kids disperse, beginning their investigation. Kisaki was dead, and he was taken away from us all. I felt the need to find who could've done that, and just who here hates me enough to frame me. Before I begin my own investigation, Erik comes up to me.

"Hitaka," Erik starts, "I don't want to believe you did it." _'Apparently everyone else does...'_

"Yeah, so?" I say.

"I need to know what you were doing last night." he says. _'Last night... oh, right... crap, that doesn't help at all.'_

* * *

><p><strong>FLASHBACK<strong>

* * *

><p>I stepped out into the brisk cold of the night, leaving my room. It was past Night Time, in fact it was almost midnight, but I couldn't stay in my room. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't do anything.<p>

"Hitaka?" A voice, shocking me into a defensive stance, calls out to me.

"Hitaka, what're you doing?" Erik steps out of the shadows.

"O-Oh... I'm just heading to the mess hall," I reply, quickly.

* * *

><p>"Were you really going to the mess hall?" Erik asks.<p>

"Yeah," I say. It was true, I was too nervous, and I couldn't sleep. I already decided against killing, but something was bothering me. I needed to leave, I couldn't stay in that room.

"And what did you do there?" he says.

"I... ate," I reply. But, really, that wasn't all, actually. _'Hmm... they could be potential suspects...'_

Erik probably saw through my lie. But if he did, he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he silently nodded, and walked off. And now, I stood alone, in front of the janitor's office. I looked in the room, and seen Hizen, crouched over Kisaki, performing his actual autopsy. I look around the building, through the doors. I guess it's time to investigate, huh? _'Except, now we're on a time limit... and it's for a murder... dammit, we aren't detectives, what are we doing here?'_

Sighing, I begin the investigation of the death of Kisaki.

* * *

><p><strong>INVESTIGATION START<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Janitor's Office_

I decide I might as well start with the scene of the murder. The first thing I do is talk to Hizen.

"Hey, Hizen," I say, "Find anything?"

"I still need some time, but..." Hizen looks thoughtful. "As far as I can tell, this wound is definitely what killed him. I'm still unsure as to what caused it..."

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>New Evidence: Hole in Chest<strong>_

_**Hizen says the hole in Kisaki's chest is most likely what killed him.**_

* * *

><p>I nod, even though Hizen doesn't see it, and continue looking. I notice something, something pink, in the room. A line of it on the ground, starting from the door, and leading to Kisaki. <em>'Wait a second...'<em> I take a quick look out the door, and sure enough, pink blood started in the hallway and trailed to Kisaki. _'Hmm...'_

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>New Evidence: Blood Trail<strong>_

_**A trail of blood starts in the hallway, and leads to Kisaki.**_

* * *

><p>The next thing I look at, is the message on the wall. Kisaki's dying message. At least, that's what everyone thinks it is. There's my name, Hitaka, written in his own blood. <em>'Why would he write my name before he died?'<em> Judging by the blood on his left index finger, it must've been him. Yet still, something seems off about it...

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>New Evidence: Dying Message<strong>_

_**There's a bloody message on the wall next to Kisaki. My name is written there, and Kisaki's left index finger has blood on it. Something seems off, but I can't put my finger on it.**_

* * *

><p>"What do you think?" Hizen asks, seeing me look at the message.<p>

"I don't know..." I reply. "Why would he write my name?"

"I suppose he'd be telling us who the killer is," Hizen says without hesitation, "But I'm not sure about that."

Nodding again, I continue investigating. The next thing I look at is the shelf, holding the supplies. The rags and bottles were in the exact same spot as yesterday, and as far as I could tell, were still full. _'So none of these were used...'_

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>New Evidence: Supplies<strong>_

_**None of the supplies in the janitor's office seemed to be used.**_

* * *

><p><em>'Is... that it?'<em>

I looked around the small room, but didn't come up with anything else that could be of use. I _could_ look at Kisaki, but I've seen my fair share of bodies for a lifetime, already. I leave that to Hizen, and continue on.

_/Entrance_

I stand in the hallway outside of the office, and look around. _'Let's see. I need to talk to some people, find the murder weapon, figure out who did it. Easy. Right?'_ The next place I decide to go is the mess hall. _'Could find the weapon here...'_

_/Mess Hall_

Suppose I wasn't the only one to come in here. Lots of the other students were here, probably looking for the weapon. I remember that there were a few people I needed to talk to, and look for them.

"Oh, hey!" Haru comes up to me. "Did you find anything?" _'Well, here's the first person already.'_

"Not really," I say. "But, I need to talk to you for a second."

"Huh? For what?" she asks, confused.

"...You were out last night," I say simply. "Why?"

* * *

><p><strong>FLASHBACK<strong>

* * *

><p>"Hitaka? Is that you?" After leaving the mess hall, and about to go try to sleep, I hear a voice call out to me.<p>

"Haru?" I turn, and see that sure enough, Haru is standing behind me.

"Hey, whatcha doin'?" she asks, her usual bubbly self.

"Uh, I couldn't sleep..." I reply.

"Oh, same," she says, "I decided to go to the gym for a bit."

* * *

><p>"H-Huh?" she asks. "I went to the gym, remember?" <em>'That's right... I ran into her in the hallway. She was leaving the gym, that's for certain. Considering the crime scene was the janitor's office...'<em>

"Right," I say, "Did you run into anyone?"

"Yeah, actually," she says, thinking, "I ran into Erik."

"Wait, huh?" _'I ran into him too!'_ "When? Where?" I ask, while a bit unintentionally, urgently.

"Outside," she says, now worried, "He stopped me, when I left. But he let me go after I told him I'm going to the gym."

_'Huh... so both Haru and Erik were outside last night. Hmm...'_

"Alright then," I say, "I think that's it. Thanks."

"Of course," she replies, "Good luck."

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>New Evidence: Takahashi's Whereabouts<strong>_

_**Haru was in the gym on the night of the murder. She ran into Erik when she was outside.**_

* * *

><p>I nod, and continue. The mess hall was full of people, and I noticed not everyone was in their groups. Some had split up. Was it because of distrust? Were they simply splitting up their investigation? I really couldn't know, but it didn't really sit right.<p>

_'Wait. Is that...?'_

Something out of the corner of my eye stops me. Something pink, and on the floor. I then notice the smell in the air, and something _definitely_ started to not sit right with me. I look down, at the offending pink thing, and...

Blood. No doubt about it, a huge bloodstain was sitting, at the front of the mess hall. It was _way_ more than in the janitor's office! _'Blood in the mess hall? Kisaki in the office? Why would...?'_

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>New Evidence: Bloodstain<strong>_

_**There's a huge, dried up bloodstain in the mess hall.**_

* * *

><p><em>'Oh, crap. My only defense on this case is that I was in the mess hall, when I was out. If someone brings up this bloodstain...'<em>

_'I'm in quite the pickle here, aren't I?'_

I notice Sumiyoshi looking my way, from the other end of the room. She most likely noticed the blood. Remembering the night before, I walk over to her.

"Ah, Sumiyoshi," I say, "How're you doing?"

"Fine," she says, nodding. "And you?"

"Could be better," I reply, "Kind of sucks waking up and suddenly you're framed for murder."

"Ah, yeah..." she looks sad, again. _'This is really bothering her, isn't it...'_ "Well, did you want something?"

"Uh, yeah, I did," I say, "I need to talk to you."

"H-Huh?" she looks surprised. "About what?"

"Last night. I seen you."

* * *

><p><strong>FLASHBACK<strong>

* * *

><p>"H-Hitaka!" I enter the mess hall, and someone calls out to me, from inside.<p>

Sumiyoshi sat at one of the round tables, and seemed to be on her ElectroID before I came in. She looks troubled.

"Oh, Sumiyoshi," I say, "You alright?"

"Y-Yeah," she stutters, "I couldn't sleep."

"Neither could I," I sigh, "Came to have something to eat."

"Ah," she smiles, "Would you like to eat together?"

"Sure," I reply, "Let's get something."

* * *

><p>"I didn't think about it until now," I say, "But why were you there? You weren't eating..."<p>

"W-Wait, you have the wrong idea!" she says quickly. "I just couldn't sleep, I didn't want to be in that room!" _'Well, that's exactly why I was out, so I can't really blame her...'_

"Alright..." I reply, "Thanks. I'm gonna look around some more."

"Okay," she says, "Me too. I hope we find them."

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>New Evidence: Sumiyoshi's Whereabouts<strong>_

_**Sumiyoshi was in the mess hall on the night of the murder.**_

* * *

><p>The rest of the mess hall was empty of any other evidence. Seems it was just the bloodstain. With nothing else, I go into the kitchen, in hopes that I find the weapon.<p>

_/Kitchen_

I seen the trio of shy people, in the kitchen. Placide, Masamoto, and Aito were all looking around, for evidence. _'Huh. I thought they'd stay away from things like knives.'_

All three of them seen me walk in, but for a moment, nobody bothered to say anything. A bunch of stuttering and stammering instead. _'Oh for god's sake.'_

"Hello," I greet.

"H-Hi," Placide says.

"H-Hello," Aito says.

Masamoto just squeaks. I... don't really know.

"Any of you find anything?" I ask, trying to be as nice as I can.

"U-Uh..."

"Um..."

I try not to facepalm at the response I get.

"W-We didn't find anything..." Placide says.

I start opening shelves, looking for knives, or at least a lack of one. Judging by the cause of death, I should be looking for a knife, right? I looked everywhere that I found knives when I searched through here, but, everything seemed fine. I couldn't be able to tell if any were missing, since they were all just thrown together, and all of them seemed clean, too. I looked in the sink, and while I did find a few plates and utensils, nothing with blood on it.

"H-Hey..." Aito suddenly says. I turn to him, and he's holding something.

"What's that?" I ask, as I walk over. I realize he's holding a towel, and looking a certain spot on it.

"I think I found something..." he says, and he turns the towel to me, showing me the spot he was looking at. Sure enough, he definitely did find something. The yellow towel unmistakably had bright, pink blood, dried up in it.

"Where'd you find this?" I ask, looking at the towel.

"I-It was behind the fridge," he replies, "I-I don't know why..."

_'Hmm. Someone with what's probably a stab wound, no noticeable murder weapons, and a bloody towel.'_

* * *

><p><em><strong>New Evidence: Bloody Towel<strong>_

_**Aito found a bloody towel in the kitchen, behind the fridge.**_

_**New Evidence: Murder Weapon**_

_**It was impossible to tell what the murder weapon was. No knives in the kitchen stood out.**_

* * *

><p><em>'Suppose the towel could've been used... but, there's still more I need to look...'<em>

Figuring I might be done with the mess hall, I say goodbye to the three, and continue into the hallway.

_/Right Hallway_

_'I think I'm getting a better understanding of what happened. I still need to find everything I can, though...'_

"Hey! Hitaka!" Toori calls out to me, and sure enough, standing in front of me is Toori and Saya.

"Hey guys," I say.

"Find anything?" Toori asks.

"...A bit," I reply. I won't lie, I was sort of questioning who I can trust, still.

"Ah," Toori nods, probably seeing what I'm getting at, "Well, hey. Everything'll come out in the trial. We'll find who did it and clear your name!"

"Haha, alright," I nod, "Thanks. Really."

"Don't worry about it," Saya says, "We'll defend you in the trial. I know it wasn't you."

I nod, smiling, and we go our seperate ways. _'It's nice to have people on your side...'_ I end up running into Hizen, next, as he leaves the janitor's office.

"Ah, Hitaka," he says, walking towards me, "I'm finished."

"Well, what'd you find?" I ask.

"It was definitely a stab wound," he says, and I notice that he has blood on his gloves. _'Oh jeez.'_ "Most likely from a small knife. I can't tell without proper equipment, but I don't think he suffered any other wounds. Oh, and I believe he was stabbed from the back, too."

"Huh," I say, "So he was stabbed in the back? That's all?"

"Yes," he replies, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I should begin my own investigation." Hizen then walks off, towards the mess hall. _'Huh...'_

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>New Evidence: Stab Wound<strong>_

_**Kisaki was definitely killed by a stab wound. Hizen says it was from the back, too.**_

* * *

><p><em>'That kind of works with... hm...'<em>

More pieces began to fall into place. I still couldn't pinpoint a culprit, or exactly what happened, but it was starting to make sense. _'Dammit, we'll find you... I'm gonna find you...'_

At this point, I've investigated the janitor's office, and the mess hall. I think I might have sufficient evidence at this point, but, anything can help. I continue looking around the building, to find anything I can, anything that can point to Kisaki's killer.

_/Gym_

I figured that maybe if I went into the gym, I could find something. Or at least talk to someone, to try and get more information. But, the second I opened that door, I was interrupted.

_Ding, dong, ding, dong_

_'The bell?'_

I look to the monitor in the gym, above the entrance doors. It flickered to life, and once again, Monokuma sat, with a glass of wine in claw.

**"Well, I think that's enough of that! Everybody come to the lobby of the building immediately!"**

_'Shit! Is the investigation over? I still haven't really found a culprit, or, crap, I don't really have a good defense, either...'_

**"So come on down... It's Time For Class Trial!"**

_'I'm screwed, aren't I?'_

* * *

><p><strong>Aaand there we go! Our first victim! Not gonna lie, I feel as if this could've been done better, but, it was kinda rushed. Been busy over the weekend, so I couldn't write, had to finish the last half of this last night :P But, hey, it's up! Next chapter will be the Class Trial, and knowing me, will probably be another huge 10k chapter. Anyway, replies to reviews!<strong>

**Veltrops: I have absolutely no clue how it got so long, lol. And yeah, definitely, I'm going for a dark tone for the story, as should be obvious at this point, with the whole torture thing and all. I won't lie, this murder isn't as dark as I could make it, but I'm trying to go realistic for now, so... ;)**

**Susurruses: Haha, that's fine! Asai is awesome, one of my favorite characters here. ...Then again, each one is my favorite.**

**Unify: I've noticed a lot of SYOCs tend to go away from a dark setting, so I figured doing said dark setting and being unique would be cool, lol. Thanks!**

**Hero of the Dark: Thank you! Erik is really cool, too.**

**LightBlueRoses: It was so hard to figure out who should be the first victim! All of these characters are great, it killed me to write the 'corpse discovery' scene. I thought killing off one of the, well, nicer characters would be despair-inducing, so, that happened, lol.**

**MizunashiFuyuko: Hmm, I wonder, what's the deal with that stall? All I'm gonna say is... stuff. Make of that what you will. Oh, and yeah, the North Dakota thing was fun to write, lol. I was writing everyone's name, including non-japanese, backwards to go with the japanese name thing, then North Dakota happened and I just had to do it. And, yeah, that was a messed up motive. :D Oh, and, sorry about Kisaki! He was a great soldier. *salutes***

**Shadowplayer360: Dem headaches doe. Wonder what those are about.**

**pikachushinx: Again, I seen the possibility for North Dakota, and had to take it. Thought you'd like that :D Oh, and, your FFs can't be that bad D: I'll send an OC to your SYOC thing going on, too, I wanna see what's going on with that. (Everyone else here should too! Because reasons!)**

**SHSL Slacker: MY PLAN IS WORKING. I'll give you a tip on how to read this story: don't get used to whatever tone the story's currently in, especially if it's a happy scene, because I'm gonna get all weird and throw Monokuma in probably. :D**

**Shiranai Atsune: Yeah! I just beat Persona 4 a couple weeks ago, and now I'm playing Persona 3. I'm in like September or something right now. Can't wait for the new ones to come here(especially Dancing All Night, that's gonna be the shit)**

**LadyGlitchy: Oh just wait, there'll be more where those came from! I cannot promise that they'll be any less despairing.**

**Myshiroyuki: Yeah, Jokuno's cool. Figured he'd probably try and do something like that. Oh, and maybe I'll do long chapters more? The trial's most likely gonna be a good one, so look forward to that!**

**Well, there we go! Lot of reviews for the last chapter. Again, thanks for all the support and everything. I guess that's about it for now? Again, will most likely be back in a couple hours, once I realized I forgot something. Anyway, RIP Kisaki, and I'll see you guys soon!**


	6. Class Trial I

**[A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for taking so long! Replies to reviews are down below, thanks! And, again, I'm gonna warn for messed up stuff later. It's not as bad as before, though.]**

* * *

><p>After Monokuma called us, the now fifteen of us gathered in the entrance of the building. I stood up at the front, before the elevators, alone. The group were either ignoring me, calling me a murderer, or some offered words of sympathy, but personally I wanted none of that. I did not kill. Somebody else here killed Kisaki. They've framed me, and now I need to know who killed. I already did, but once I seen my name, then it just got personal. It's <em>been<em> personal, with the motive, the highly successful motive, but... this is just going too far.

_'Dammit... I didn't think anyone would actually kill... Starting to doubt that whole joke theory, now...'_

"Upupu! Looks like eeeeverybody's here!" Monokuma's voice suddenly spoke, and sure enough, the bear stood in front of us, holding a rather large pair of scissors.

"Are we starting this now?" I ask. I wanted to get this over with already.

"Well, someone's impatient!" Monokuma teases. "I'd be stalling, if I was the killer..."

"I'm _not_ the killer." I say.

"Let's just get going," Jokuno says, "Where are we holding this, 'class trial'?"

"Riiiight in here!" Monokuma says, and in one quick motion, cuts the tape on the second elevator, with the scissors. As if on cue, the doors open, revealing a spacious elevator. "Alright, everybody in! Now! Chop-chop!"

_'Huh, so that elevator's open now...'_

I take a quick look behind me. The group looks at me with different sets of eyes, some judgemental, some sad, some just confused. Silently, I step into the elevator.

The elevator followed the same colors of the building. Light brown tiles took the floor, with dark brown around them. The walls were white, and had a railing on each wall. There was a yellow camera, in the front corner next to the doors, and on the back was a TV screen. Most likely for Monokuma's announcements. The buttons read there were four floors, the ground, second, third, and the basement.

Everyone walked in behind me, and again, I could tell how apart everyone was. Some had heavy, determined steps, while some were light, and hesitant. Once everyone was in, we heard a _ding!_ as the basement button lit up, and the doors closed. The elevator was quiet, and I took this time to think.

_'Somebody killed Kisaki, in the janitor's office. I was framed for it. It must've been done overnight, after the motive. From the dried up blood, it must've been early last night...'_

_'Dammit. We're taking this elevator to someone's death. Either everyone is going to die, and the killer walks free, or the killer dies. I can't let the former happen.'_

_'Someone here hates me enough to frame me for murder... who could it be? Why? I guess everything is about to come out. We'll find out who did it. We're gonna find out who murdered Kisaki. We have no choice.'_

Another _ding!_ goes off, and the doors open, revealing a huge circular room, something like a pentagon. The walls were a light blue, and some had dark blue curtains over it, and the floor was more of a bluish red. In the center were sixteen witness stands, much like what you'd see in a court, one for each of us. Almost. The sixteenth had a stand behind it, with a picture of the face of Kisaki, with a red cross going through it.

"Aaaalrighty then!" Monokuma says excitedly, "Everyone find your stand! It has your name on it, it's not that hard!"

Everyone splits up, and finds their stand. I only need to take a couple steps forward, as directly in front of the elevator was my stand. It had some kind of electronic built into it, like the ElectroID, and it had my name on it. I stand, and soon after, everyone has their spot. I notice I'm next to Haru, and Kenta.

"Alright, so..." Dakota starts. "The fuck are we doing here?"

"Well, let me explain!" Monokuma says, now sitting on a throne near the stands. "This is the Class Trial! It all comes down to this! After each murder, there's an investigation period, when everyone gets their evidence! And after that, we have a Class Trial to find the culprit! If you successfully find 'im out, he gets punished! As in executed! And if you fail, then everyone gets punished, and the killer walks free! Oh, and punished as in-"

"So we're supposed to debate," Kenta cuts him off.

"Exactly! Now why don't we get started?" Monokuma says. _'Well. It's starting. Let's do this!'_

* * *

><p><strong>COURT IS NOW IN SESSION!<strong>

* * *

><p>"Let me get this straight," Jokuno says. "One of us killed Kisaki."<p>

"Eeeeyup!" Monokuma replies. "S'all your doing! Wasn't me!"

"And you know who did it," Jokuno says.

"'Course! I need to know so I can give proper judgement, right!?" Monokuma shouts.

"I assume you won't tell us who it was." Erik comments.

"Nope!" Monokuma answers.

"We don't need 'im," Dakota says, "Hitaka did it! His own fuckin' name's there!"

"Wait, hold on," Toori says, "That's not really concrete proof..."

"I-I really don't want it to be Hitaka..." Asai says, "But we really don't have anything else, do we?"

"I'm not so sure it was Hitaka..." Suzuki says, "Something's bothering me."

"Like what?" Haru asks.

"...I don't know." Suzuki replies, helpfully.

"Let's talk about the murder," Hizen says, "Perhaps that will get us going somewhere."

"Yeah," Saya says, "Let's do that, then."

"Should be fuckin' over by now, but whatever..." Dakota says.

* * *

><p><strong>NONSTOP DEBATE!<strong>

_[A/N: Okay, quick explanation of how this is going to work! **Bold text** would be something you can present evidence/agree to. **Underlined bold text with arrows is the correct line to present**** evidence.**** Bold text with arrows are correct lines to agree to. **You can present multiple pieces of evidence. I think that's it, so let's go!]_

* * *

><p><span><em>Phase One<em>

_Usable Evidence:_

_1. Monokuma File #1_

_2. Dying Message_

_3. Bloodstain_

HIZEN

"Kisaki Yukijin was the victim. He was killed overnight..."

HIZEN

"...most likely **by a stab wound**... and seemingly without **a struggle,** either."

SUZUKI

"And, **Hitaka's name was on the wall, written in blood,** which was most likely Kisaki's."

ERIK

"It must've been **Kisaki who wrote it,**with the **blood on his finger** and all."

JOKUNO

"Meaning, he **was telling us his killer.**"

SUZUKI

"...I don't know..."

HITAKA

**"Sorry, but that's wrong!"**

_Evidence Used: Monokuma File #1_

* * *

><p>"Hold on," I say, "Can we really be sure about that?"<p>

"Who else could it be?" Erik asked, wanting to know what I'm thinking.

"Well, it couldn't have been Kisaki," I reply. "The Monokuma File says death was instantaneous. Meaning, he would be dead before he could write anything!"

"I thought so..." Suzuki nods.

"O-Oh, is that what that means...?" Masamoto asks.

"He musta had at least a couple seconds," Dakota says, "That's more than enough time!"

"The Monokuma File says the heart was fractured," I reply, "He probably bled out just after he was stabbed. And, he probably wouldn't have had the strength to write that... Right?"

"That's... true," Jokuno says, looking away. "Could it have not been Kisaki, then?"

"N-No..." Masamoto says. "I-I was looking at the body. Th-the heart is really bad, h-he definitely died right after."

"Y-You did?" Aito asks.

"If it wasn't Kisaki..." Erik says, thinking. "Then who?"

"Could be the **culprit,**" Saya says. "Maybe he's throwing us off?"

"Not really doing a great job of it..." Kenta says. _'Oh please, all of you fell for that...'_

"So you're saying it could've been a **red herring,**" Jokuno says. "And the culprit wrote it, to put us on the wrong track..."

"Considering the fact that Kisaki was dead before he could even think about writing Hitaka's name, yes. That'd be the only logical conclusion." Hizen replies.

"Also considering the fact that the killer probably wouldn't write their own name..." Erik says.

"It means Hitaka's not the killer!" Toori shouts. "Seriously, when were you going to figure that out?"

"You have any ideas, sound boy?" Dakota says, clearly irritated.

"Well... not right now, no..." Toori replies, defeated.

"Wait! So this means we can prove Hitaka's not the killer, right?" Asai says.

"Then who was it?" Sumiyoshi asks. Of course, the court goes silent.

"I'm not sure if we can prove that yet," Erik says, "We should talk about how it was commited."

"Okay, _that's_ something we can be sure of," Toori says, "He was stabbed and killed in the janitor's office."

"There's something bothering me about that," Jokuno says, "How did Kisaki get into the janitor's office?"

"The killer must've found him in the building, and grabbed him? Maybe?" I say.

"O-Oh!" Masamoto says, suddenly. "I-I have an idea!"

"W-What?" Aito asks.

"Th-there was a bloodstain in the mess hall..." Masamoto says, "I-If Kisaki was killed in the janitor's office, w-why was the bloodstain there?"

"I'm not sure..." Erik says. "Let's think about this."

_'Kisaki was found in the janitor's office... and yet, there was a bloodstain in the mess hall. Hmm...'_

* * *

><p><strong>NONSTOP DEBATE!<strong>

* * *

><p><span><em>Phase Two<em>

_Usable Evidence:_

_1. Monokuma File #1_

_2. Bloodstain_

_3. Blood Trail_

_4. Murder Weapon_

ERIK

"Kisaki's body was **found in the janitor's office...**"

ERIK

"...and yet, there's a **bloodstain in the mess hall.**"

TOORI

"But, he **died in the janitor's office**, didn't he?"

ASAI

"So, could that be **his blood**...?"

JOKUNO

"I'm not sure..."

HITAKA

**"Sorry, but that's wrong!"**

_Evidence Used: Bloodstain + Blood Trail_

* * *

><p>"Wait. That doesn't seem right." I say. <em>'If there's such a huge bloodstain in the mess hall... and with the trail...'<em>

"Huh? But we found him in the **janitor's office**, didn't we?" Toori asks.

"Maybe he didn't die in the janitor's office," I state.

"What do you intend to accomplish by saying such a thing?" Jokuno deadpans, pushing his glasses up with a finger.

"What if... **Kisaki died in the mess hall?**"

"Wait, hold on! We found him in the janitor's office!" Dakota shouts.

"Oh, I see what you're saying..." Erik says. "The killer **moved his body**."

"W-What the fuck!?" Dakota immediately shouts again. "M-Moving his _body!?_ No, that's too fucking far, man! There's no fuckin' way!"

"But think about it," I say, "There's a bloodstain in the mess hall, and a blood trail in the janitor's office..."

"Oh, I get it..." Toori says, looking away.

"So Kisaki died in the mess hall, then." Kenta says.

"I figured so," Hizen comments, "I noticed there was a bit of a lack of blood. From his injuries, the amount of blood in the mess hall would make much more sense. And the trail definitely makes it seem like **his body was dragged.**"

"I-I thought so..." Aito says, quietly. "Th-the trail started outside, and **led to Kisaki...**"

"So, wait a sec," Haru says, "Why was his body moved? We were gonna find it anyway!"

"Maybe the killer decided a dead body in the mess hall first thing in the morning was too much..." Hizen smirks. _'Huh.'_

"Either way, the body was moved," Erik says, "Perhaps we should find out why."

"..." I notice Placide has a thoughtful look on her face.

After a couple nods and agreements, we continue.

* * *

><p><strong>NONSTOP DEBATE!<strong>

* * *

><p><span><em>Phase Three<em>

_Usable Evidence:_

_1. Monokuma File #1_

_2. Dying Message_

_3. Murder Weapon_

_4. Bloodstain_

_5. Blood Trail_

ERIK

"Kisaki died in the mess hall, and yet we found him in the janitor's office."

DAKOTA

"So the fucker of a killer **moved him...**"

PLACIDE

"...Hm..." _'That doesn't help.'_

SUMIYOSHI

"Maybe the killer **actually didn't want everyone to see the body in the morning?**"

HIZEN

"I was simply kidding. I'm not sure the killer would actually do that."

JOKUNO

"Perhaps they had to... **hide the body...**"

SUMIYOSHI

"Then... is there **really no way to find out?**"

HITAKA

**"Wait, that's right!"**

* * *

><p>"Hold on," I say, "Jokuno's on to something."<p>

"So you agree, then?" Jokuno asks.

"It's gotta be... **the killer must've had to hide the body.**"

"Exactly," Jokuno says, smirking. "All things considered, it would probably be a good idea to hide the body, so no one prematurely finds it."

"Oh wait a sec!" Haru says. "Yeah, yeah! That definitely makes sense!"

"You seem excited," Jokuno says.

"Me, Hitaka, Sumiyoshi and Erik were out last night! If the killer didn't hide the body, we might've found him!" Haru continues. _'Oh crap, is she bringing that up?'_

"H-Huh!?" Sumiyoshi gasps.

"Tch." Erik looks away for a moment.

"Wait, wait!" Dakota says. "You realize what that means, right!? **That means it must've been one of you four!**"

"Wait, no," Saya says, "We know it wasn't Hitaka, right?"

"Well, actually," Jokuno smiles, oddly enough. "Hitaka's not really free just yet."

"Huh?" I ask. _'Is he serious?'_ "But, the message..."

"Yes, the message," Jokuno says, "It's not really concrete proof you _didn't_ do it, is it?"

"Wh- what!?" I shout. _'What the hell? What about everything we just talked about!?'_

"Sure, Kisaki might not have wrote it," Jokuno says, "And it doesn't make sense that the killer would write his own name. Maybe someone else entirely wrote it. But **the message does not prove you're innocent.**"

"That's... stupid," Saya says, "The message should be more than enough to prove his innocence."

"Is it? Is it really?" Jokuno replies. "Did you see him? Did you see him stay in his room? And now, Takahashi is even saying he was out last night. It's more than possible, and while I admit I doubt it's what happened, we need to be open to anything."

"But Takahashi, Sumiyoshi, and Erik were also out." Saya says. "Aren't they suspects too?"

"Why yes," Jokuno says, "Did you think I forgot about them?"

"Wait, why are we suspects!?" Sumiyoshi asks, nervously.

"H-Hey! Yamashita! I thought we were together!?" Haru says, even more nervously.

"Hmph..." Erik just goes silent. _'Huh?'_

"Actually, wait..." I say. "Erik?"

"Yes?" he asks, and clearly he's irritated by the direction we're going.

"What were you doing last night?" I ask. "Ha- Takahashi was in the gym. Sumiyoshi needed to get out of her room. I needed to get out, too, and have something to eat. But, you...?"

"Ah. I figured you'd eventually ask that." Erik says. "For your information, **I was standing watch.**"

"Standing watch?" I ask.

"I knew someone was going to kill," Erik says, "So, I thought if I stood watch last night, I'd catch a killer and stop them."

"Fuck, good job, dumbass. You stood watch and everything, yet someone _still_ fuckin' killed." Dakota deadpans.

"...I got tired," Erik admits, "I fell asleep around midnight. But before that..."

"**...I seen Kisaki.**"

"Wait, _what?_" Dakota asks.

"Kisaki walked out of his room about half before midnight," Erik says, "I went to go talk to him."

"He was **nervous,** and I definitely saw him **put an ElectroID in his pocket.**"

"What did he say!?" Toori asks, leaning forward.

"He said he's going to the mess hall," Erik says, "But I felt like he was hiding something."

"And you didn't fucking ask him about it. Or follow him." Dakota says. "Christ, man, you had one job!"

"It didn't seem too major," Erik replies, "I figured it was probably nothing. Besides, **Takahashi came, right after.**"

"I did? Oh, wait, yeah, I did..." Haru says.

"She was leaving the building," Erik says, "She came up and talked to me."

"He'd been out in the cold for a couple hours," Haru follows, "I, uh, told him it'll be fine. That he should go to sleep."

"Shit, I woulda left him outside..." Dakota scoffs.

"I was tired," Erik says, "And, the cold was getting to me. I didn't want to get sick, so I decided to just trust you. I guess I failed, didn't I?"

"That's great and all..." Jokuno says, thinking. "But do you have any proof you were out the whole time?"

"Excuse me?" Erik asks.

"I have a question. When did everyone go out?" Jokuno asks.

"Around 11:00, I think, and I came back at 11:30," I say.

"Around quarter before eleven," Sumiyoshi says.

"Around 10:30?" Haru says.

"I went outside at 10:30 as well." Erik says.

"And when Takahashi left, did you see her?" Jokuno asks.

"Yes, I did," Erik replies, annoyed.

"Okay. So that means you saw everyone between 10:30 and 11:00, when they left." Jokuno states. "Now, when you all came back?"

"Like I said, 11:30..." I say, unsure of where Jokuno's going with this.

"Also 11:30," Haru follows.

"I think it was twelve..." Sumiyoshi says.

"Okay. So we have a timeframe, then." Jokuno says. "**Between 10:30 and 12:00, you saw everyone.** Is that correct?"

"I suppose so," Erik says. "Except, I fell asleep before I seen Sumiyoshi come back."

"Right. Fell asleep." Jokuno says. "Another question. Did anyone else leave their rooms?"

Everyone murmured a no, or shook their heads. Most gave him a confused look.

_**New Evidence: Everyone's Whereabouts**_

_**Sumiyoshi, Takahashi, Kisaki, and Erik were out between 10:30 and 12:00.**_

"...You gonna go anywhere with this, glasses?" Dakota asks.

"Why, yes, of course..." Jokuno says, smiling. "It's becoming quite clear to me."

"And? What's that?" I ask.

"**Erik killed Kisaki.**"

"W-Woah! Hold on!" Toori shouts.

"H-Hey! Are you sure about that!?" I ask. _'How could he have-!?'_

"After midnight, when everyone was in their rooms for good, Erik called Kisaki to the building. He then proceeded to murder him, and blame it on Hitaka so he could leave. And, there's more." Jokuno starts.

"He must've called Kisaki back out, **with the ElectroIDs.** You can directly message one person, y'know. And, this goes hand in hand with this **piece of evidence I found outside.**" _'Outside... crap, I didn't look outside!'_

"And? What is this evidence?" Erik asks, with his anger quite obvious.

"This is what I believe to be a **broken ElectroID,**" Jokuno takes something out of his pocket. Sure enough, a fried, broken object resembling an ElectroID is now in his hands. "It was behind the building, under a lump of snow."

_**New Evidence: Broken ElectroID**_

_**Jokuno found a broken ElectroID outside, hidden behind the building.**_

"Go on," Erik growls.

"Personally, I think your story of standing watch is bullshit. At least, until you 'fell asleep'." Jokuno says. "You never seen Kisaki leave, because he didn't. At midnight, you called Kisaki to the mess hall, via ElectroID, and killed him then and there. After this, you destroyed his ElectroID, so nobody would find the chat log, and realize you called him."

"I can confirm Kisaki did not have his ElectroID on him," Hizen adds.

"A-And that definitely looks like someone deliberately broke it..." Aito comments.

_'That's... quite impressive. But for some reason, something doesn't feel right.'_

"I don't know..." Kenta says, clearly unsure of something.

"Would _Erik_ really kill?" Asai asks. "He was the one who kept on saying we'll be fine..."

"Exactly," Jokuno says. "We don't know anything about each other. If Erik was simply saying that to throw suspicion off of him, I wouldn't be surprised."

"You can't prove shit," Erik suddenly says. "That's all just conjecture. It's meaningless without evidence. You do realize the error in what you're saying, right?"

"I don't fuckin' know, what Jokuno's saying makes a lot of sense, Erik!" Dakota snaps. "We don't know who the fuck you are! Can we really put it past you to betray us!?"

"Hmph. What is this error, Erik?" Jokuno asks.

Erik crosses his arms, and we continue on.

* * *

><p><strong>NONSTOP DEBATE!<strong>

* * *

><p><span><em>Phase Four<em>

_Usable Evidence:_

_1. Monokuma File #1_

_2. Murder Weapon_

_3. Bloodstain_

_4. Broken ElectroID_

_5. Everyone's Whereabouts_

ERIK

"You're saying I'm the only one who could've called Kisaki to the mess hall."

ERIK

"Except, **you're missing something.**"

JOKUNO

"And? What is that?"

ERIK

"Just think about it. Is it really **not obvious?**"

TOORI

"This'd go much faster if you just told us..."

SUZUKI

"Actually, now that you mention it..."

SUMIYOSHI

"No, everything's fine! **Erik killed Kisaki!**"

JOKUNO

"Exactly. **Erik was the only one out last night that could've done it.**"

ERIK

"I'm telling you, just take **one look at the evidence...**"

DAKOTA

"Fuckin' asshole, get on with it!"

HITAKA

**"Sorry, but that's wrong!"**

_Evidence Used: Everyone's Whereabouts_

* * *

><p><em>'No... no way...'<em>

"Actually, Jokuno, I think Erik might be on to something..." I say, hesitantly. As bad as this sounds, I'd rather Jokuno could've been right here, but things are starting to clear up...

"Hitaka? Did you find something?" Toori asks.

"N-No! We were right!" Sumiyoshi says, somewhat _desperately_ I notice.

"Jokuno. You say that the murder was commited around midnight?" I ask.

"It would make the most sense, yes." Jokuno says.

"...And that at midnight, only Erik could've done it?" I ask, again.

"Yes... oh, wait." Jokuno says, seemingly realizing it. "Ahh. Yes, I hadn't thought of that."

"I didn't kill him." Erik says. "I understand your doubts, but I'm an honest man. I returned to my room and slept around midnight. It's still possible it could've been anyone, but if you consider everyone that was out last night... it becomes clear who it must've been."

Everyone's eyes suddenly turn to Sumiyoshi.

"Sumiyoshi..." I say.

"...**you were the only one out at midnight.**"

"Wait! No!" Sumiyoshi says. "I-I stayed at the mess hall until midnight, and I went right back! That's all that happened!"

"We ate, and I left at 11:30," I say. "There's a thirty minute gap, there. What were you doing?"

"I-I just stayed in the mess hall!" she shouts.

**"Your argument needs to be patched up!"**

_'Dammit! She's not listening. I need to get through to her!'_

* * *

><p><strong>MACHINE GUN TALK BATTLE!<strong>

* * *

><p><span><em>Phase Five<em>

**=="I didn't do it!"== **_**/1 COMBO**_

**o**

**=="Why won't you believe me!?"== **_**/2 COMBO**_

**o**

**=="I stayed in the mess hall, do you think I murdered Kisaki!?"== **_**/3 COMBO**_

**o**

**=="You need to patch your argument up!"== **_**/4 COMBO**_

**o**

**=="I-It wasn't me! Please! I swear!"== **_**/5 COMBO**_

**o**

**=="It was Erik! I didn't kill Kisaki!"== **_**/6 COMBO**_

**FIRE THE KILLSHOT!**

_Evidence: Everyone's Whereabouts_

**"This proves it!"**

* * *

><p>Sumiyoshi stands, but not as tall as before. She's hunched over, and she's gripping the stand as if it's going to get her out of this. But she's not. Just like the rest of us. And now, everything is becoming more and more clear.<p>

"Did you see Erik, Sumiyoshi?" I ask.

"N-No... He was probably waiting for me to leave!" Sumiyoshi desperately says.

"I _wasn't,_" Erik says, "I'd forgotten you were even in there. I simply got tired and went to sleep."

"Right now it's possible either you or Erik killed Kisaki," I say, "And I'm doubting it was Erik, Sumiyoshi."

"W-Well what!? Do you want me to just admit it!?" Sumiyoshi shouts. "I'm not gonna break to just that! E-Even if I was the killer!"

"No, no, I have evidence, too," I say. _'I do. It all lies in...'_

**CHOOSE EVIDENCE**

1. Monokuma File #1

**2. Everyone's Whereabouts**

3. Bloodstain

4. Murder Weapon

**"This is it!"**

"If we think about where everyone was," I say, "Erik was outside the whole time. And you've already admitted to staying until midnight. After I left, you stayed in the mess hall for thirty minutes... why? Why would you do that?"

"P-Please, I didn't do it... I didn't do it!" Sumiyoshi simply says in response.

"Monokuma..." I suddenly say, which obviously surprised everyone. "Is Erik right? Was he out the whole time?"

"Upupupu!" Monokuma laughs. "I didn't think you'd already ask for my help! Well, since this is obviously going nowhere, I'll help you out! Yes, Erik was out **the entire time!** Not once last night did he step into the building! And, at midnight, Sumiyoshi and Kisaki were the **only ones in the building!**"

...

Well, that's it then.

"_THAT'S WRONG!_" Sumiyoshi desperately screams. "That's wrong, that's wrong, that's wrong! I DIDN'T DO IT!"

"I... what the hell is going on!?" Toori shouts, gripping his stand.

"There's nothing to be confused about," Jokuno says. "I think you've figured everything out, Hitaka. Explain it to everyone."

_'Right... yes, I've got it. I've figured it all out. It's time to put it all together!'_

* * *

><p><strong>CLIMAX LOGIC!<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 1<em>

At around ten o'clock last night, Monokuma gave everyone a motive. The motive said that if no one kills by the next twenty-four hours, their families will all perish. This got mixed reactions from everyone, some shocked, some terrified, and while some tried to calm down the situation, it didn't work. After the motive, everyone dispersed, returning to their rooms.

_Chapter 2_

Erik knew someone would try to kill. Being the person who was attempting to keep everyone together, and not have even one victim, Erik tried to stay out all night, and keep watch. This way, should anyone leave, looking suspicious, Erik can stop a murder. Erik ran into Hitaka, Sumiyoshi, Takahashi, and Kisaki outside, as they all left between 10:30 and 11:00. Kisaki was nervous, and held an ElectroID, for one reason- because one of the five outside called him to the mess hall, using an ElectroID. Erik never realized who could've been the murderer, and went to sleep at midnight, before seeing Sumiyoshi return.

_Chapter 3_

Hitaka went to eat with Sumiyoshi. She had been on her own ElectroID at the time, and hadn't been particularly doing anything until Hitaka came. The two ate, and now at 11:30, Hitaka left. Finding the perfect time to do so, the killer called Kisaki to the mess hall, using the private message function on the ElectroIDs. Using a knife the killer must've prepared beforehand, they stabbed Kisaki in the chest, leaving him to bleed in the mess hall. In an attempt to hide the murder, the killer grabbed a towel and cleaned off the knife, before putting the knife back and hiding the towel behind the fridge. In a rush, the killer either didn't bother or forgot to clean the blood in the mess hall. The killer dragged Kisaki's body to the janitor's office, needing to so they can forge a dying message easier, and hide the body until morning. In the janitor's office, the killer used Kisaki's blood, and his finger to write out Hitaka's name, possibly doing so because he was in the mess hall. And now, the killer just had to finish the job...

_Chapter 4_

With Kisaki dead, the killer only had one more thing to do, to hide the murder. Hide the evidence of the ElectroID chat log. The killer knew that eventually the ElectroID chat would probably come up in the trial, and without Kisaki's ElectroID, perhaps it couldn't be proved that the chat even existed. And so the killer took Kisaki's ElectroID off of him, went behind the building, and tossed it at the electric fence a couple of times. Making sure it was good and fried, the killer hid it under a pile of snow, in hopes that it wouldn't be brought up. Probably too scared to even think about cleaning the blood, the killer thought they were done, and went back to their room, hoping that they wouldn't be found out.

**"And the only one who could've pulled it off..."**

**"...was you! Sumiyoshi Mizuki, you have been found guilty for the murder of Kisaki Yukijin!"**

* * *

><p>The court went silent. Nobody said a word, or made a sound. Instead, everyone just stared at Sumiyoshi. <em>'It was her, right? I'm... not wrong, am I? Dammit, this sucks...'<em>

"Why?" Sumiyoshi weakly asked. "You know why I... why I d-did it. So why did you find me out?"

"So we don't all _die,_ duh," Dakota says. "And actually, we don't have the slightest fuck-all clue for why you did it. Care to explain?"

"Th-the motive..." Sumiyoshi whispered. "It was the motive. It showed my only family being tortured and... I... I couldn't take that..."

"Oh, bloody hell..." Dakota facepalms. "Look, it was bad, but someone _actually_ killed over them?"

"Y-You don't understand," Sumiyoshi replies. "My only family are my four siblings. They're all very young, the oldest is _eight_ for God's sake! What do you want me to do? I-I couldn't have them die. I couldn't have them be _tortured_ anymore."

"W-What about your parents?" Placide asks.

"Gone," Sumiyoshi says, "My dad died in a car accident, and my mom just... left us, and I had to support my siblings alone."

"Look, no one blames you..." Toori says. "But you realize what's going to happen now, right?"

"Y-Yes..." Sumiyoshi nods. "Yes, I do."

"I... I'm so sorry, Sumiyoshi," I whisper. "I didn't want this to happen. Please, just... forgive us. That's all I ask." _'This is fucking bullshit...'_

"...Of course," Sumiyoshi says, and I notice a faint smile on her face. "Of course. I forgive you. You had to do it, right? I'm sorry too... I-I tried to kill all of you... just so I can save my family..."

"We shouldn't be apologizing," Erik says, crossing his arms. "None of this is our fault. It's all that bear's fault."

"Upupupu! How many times do I need to say it!?" Monokuma shouts. "I have no part in this! It's all you guys!"

"We wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you," Saya says. "So, yes. Anything that happens here is your fault."

"Is it, really?" Monokuma puts a paw over his mouth. "I'm giving you a choice. You can either live here for the rest of your life, or attempt to kill someone and leave. Really, it's all on you. I just gave you a little nudge!"

"He's... kind of got a point," Suzuki says. "Can we really blame _him_ for everything?"

"Okay, _fuck_ that," Dakota says, "You can be all weird, and keep on 'thinking the right thing' or whatever you're trying to do, but this is all that fucking bear's doing. Honestly, we should be getting him executed!"

_'Executed... right...'_

"Well why don't we finally get on with that!" Monokuma says. "Everybody, it's ballot time! Let's vote!"

The electronic built into the stand turns on, and the words _BALLOT TIME!_ flash across the screen, before changing to some character select screen out of a video game with all of our names and faces. Except for Kisaki, his face was greyed out, and had a red cross going through it, just like at his stand. _'I get it... we're supposed to vote. Vote for who did it.'_

Wordlessly, everybody puts in a vote. Everybody taps a face. I notice Sumiyoshi also votes, hesitantly, with tears in her eyes. At this point, almost everyone has tears in their eyes. I tried to blink them back, and at least try to look strong, but goddamn, I was failing. I can't do this. _'This is all so... fucked up...'_

Eventually, I press the button marking Sumiyoshi's face. _'I'm only doing this for the truth. I'm not doing this because I want to. Right?'_

The screen goes black, for a moment. Then, the icon with Sumiyoshi's face shows up. And while once it was a colorful, happy picture, it turns grey, and a cross goes through it. Showing what she's about to be in a few moments. _'Christ, we're sending her to her death! How the hell can we do this!?'_

"Aaaand the votes are in!" Monokuma shouts. "We have... fifteen votes for Sumiyoshi Mizuki! Wow! That's the whole board! Even the culprit! It's always funny when the culprit votes, since their vote doesn't even count!"

"I've always wanted to be a botanist..." Sumiyoshi suddenly says, smiling. "I only ever became a Fashion Designer because I made clothes for my siblings... I couldn't afford clothes. I had to make them. But, eventually this became my one and only talent..."

"I'm so goddamn sorry." I say to her. _'I should've known this might happen. Dammit, she even asked me about it! She asked me about my own family yesterday!'_

"Me too." Sumiyoshi says, nodding.

And then it began.

Coming out of a door, or something, a chain suddenly flies out and grabs Sumiyoshi's neck, presumably quite tight. After a few 'what the hell's from everyone, and a moment to see the terrified look on her face, the chain just as quickly drags her away.

"The fuck was that!?" Dakota shouts.

"Must be her execution..." Erik says.

Suddenly, TV screens come down from above, inside the circle. Four screens descend, making a diamond shape, so we could all see. The screens show Sumiyoshi being dragged through a dark, stone corridor, at what must be like a hundred miles an hour. She pulls and tugs at the chain around her neck, in a feeble attempt to get it off, but to no avail. This execution was about to happen, and no one can stop it.

"What the hell, man!?" Toori shouts. "C-Can't we do something!? Go down that hallway!?"

"There's no point," Jokuno says. "She's gone, now. There's no way we'll catch up to her."

"W-Wait!" Haru shouts. "I'm a soccer player! I can totally catch up to her! Dammit, hold on!"

"Upupupu!" Monokuma laughs condescendingly. "I wouldn't try that, if I were you. I don't like it when my subjects go out of line."

"Fuck... fuck, fuck, fuck!" Dakota screams. "_Dammit!_ What the fuck! Fuck, dammit, someone get me the fuck out of here!"

"Oh, well, why don't we walk through the goddamn open door for us," Kenta says sarcastically. "Dunno if you've noticed, but there's kind of no way out. So stop screaming!"

"What the hell do you expect me to do!?" Dakota shouts. "THIS IS ALL FUCKING BULLSHIT! We're being _forced to fucking murder each other,_ and now one of us is being _dragged_ to her death! Because we couldn't do shit!"

"There was nothing to do!" I say, trying to calm her down. "You were right, earlier. This is all Monokuma's fault! You can't blame yourself for this!"

"SHUT UP!" she screams again. "F-Fuck! I just want to go home!"

Our attention is brought back to the TV screens, as we see the chain stop, and throw her into a circular room, much like this one, except it has a white floor, and a fence surrounding her. Behind the fence walls, is just darkness, pitch black.

Sumiyoshi stands up, and looks around, scared. _'I'd hate to be down there right now...'_ She looks at the fences, but realizes she probably shouldn't touch them. Smart move, considering the fact that the fences above were electric. Everything is deathly quiet for a moment, until another door opens, opposite from where the first one was.

A chain unhands another person. This time, it was a baby, less than three years old no doubt. And... the baby looked like crap. Like it was sent through... torture... _'You've gotta be kidding me...'_

"A fucking baby...?" Dakota whispers.

"Y-Yuki!" Sumiyoshi gasps, in surprise. She runs over to the baby, who is now crying, and hugs it tightly. "Oh no... why are you here... why..."

"Christ, they're not gonna kill the-" Kenta starts.

"Shut. The fuck. Up." Erik cuts him off through gritted teeth.

For a while, Sumiyoshi simply hugs the baby, apparently named Yuki. It was kind of heartwarming, except for the fact that the baby was just... I can't even describe it. Eventually, the same door that sent the baby in opens again, and this time, out comes a simple first aid kit.

"I-Is she... supposed to fix up the baby?" Masamoto asks.

"That's what it seems..." Hizen mutters.

Sumiyoshi looks to the first aid kit in happiness, and quickly opens it. Sure enough, actual supplies are in there, alcohol, bandages, even things like needles. Within just a few moments, Sumiyoshi goes to work. Wrapping up the baby's arms, even its head, just to fix up the injuries.

"I-I don't know... this feels like a trap..." Haru says, unsure.

"It probably is," Saya says. "I can't imagine there's a way out..."

"I can still find her... bring her back..." Haru whispers.

Just a few minutes later, Sumiyoshi's done. Yuki is now fixed up, and stands on his- well, I assume it's a he- own two feet, and hugs Sumiyoshi. It felt much better to see now. Except, something is wrong. Something is still absolutely wrong.

"L-Look at how the baby's moving..." Aito says. "Th-that doesn't look right."

"It's just a broken bone or something," Erik says. "It's gotta be."

"Uh... I wouldn't be so sure, dude..." Toori says.

Sure enough, I pay more attention to Yuki, and he definitely looks weird as he moves. He steps away from Sumiyoshi, and I see what it is. His movements are too perfect. Not for a baby, they just are. I'd even say his movements are robotic... _'...nah...'_

"H-Hey, I'm getting a bad feeling about this..." Asai says, worried.

"It's been too long, why hasn't anything happened yet?" Jokuno asks.

"D-Don't say that!" Placide follows.

I notice Yuki now has tears in his eyes. He's not crying, but it's like he knows something bad is about to happen.

"Y-Yuki? What's wrong?" Sumiyoshi asks.

"Fuck... I can't watch, I'm not fucking watching!" Dakota says, covering her eyes, but still peeking.

"If anything, it's probably gonna happen now," Kenta says, crossing his arms.

Yuki moves even more robotic-like over to the first aid kit. And that was when I realized it. God, that's not Yuki, someone's goddamn controlling him. I look at his back, and see a tiny attenna sticking out. So that's why it felt robotic. _'Dammit, no! Sumiyoshi, get out of there!'_

Yuki bends down to the first aid kit, and begins to cry again. He pulls out a needle. Not a medical needle, but one you'd use to sew clothes. Probably one that Sumiyoshi used before.

"Oh god... that baby's got a needle..." Toori says. _'No, no no no... please, it can't end like this!'_

"Yuki?" Sumiyoshi asks, and takes a step back.

And... I guess that's when it ended...

Yuki leaped for Sumiyoshi's leg, and effectively took her right down, just inches away from the fence. Using the needle, Yuki...

"Argh, f-fuck!" Jokuno shouts.

"AAAAAHHH!" Asai screams.

"AAAAH! YUKI!" So does Sumiyoshi.

"O-Oh, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" Dakota follows.

I take a sharp intake of breath, and step away. _'What the fuck!? What!? NO!'_

I had expected it by this point, but the way it all happened was so quick, so... brutal. The baby, obviously being controlled, repeatedly stabbed Sumiyoshi with the needle, in the throat, in her face, all over. After hearing some gross gurgles from Sumiyoshi's throat, her breath was lost, and her eyes closed.

For the final time. Sumiyoshi Mizuki was, well, dead, and there was nothing we could do about it.

**SURVIVORS: 14**

The camera feed cut off, and the message flashed across the screen. Fourteen survivors. Two of us are dead. Two of our original sixteen are fucking dead. _Dead. _Gone. And I was angry at this.

"Monokumaaaaa!" I scream. "What the _fuck!_" I wanted to run over there, I wanted to grab him by the throat and whip the little shit across the room. I wanted to do so many things. Sumiyoshi's _dead._ Kisaki is _dead._ And they won't even get a proper funeral. How the hell are we supposed to tell their families this!? How- How am _I_ going to cope with this!? _'I couldn't do shit! I couldn't fucking do shit! DAMN IT!'_

"Oh? What is it?" Monokuma asks.

"What... what the fuck!?" I shout. "Why the hell are you doing this!?"

"Why?" Monokuma says. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Uh, _yes!_" Dakota shouts. "We kind of fucking would! Considering you just killed two of our goddamn _classmates!?_"

"Well, it seems my plan is working!" Monokuma says. "It's all for despair! Haven't I mentioned that!? All I want is for you bastards to feel despair! Feel the despair that _she_ felt! For her despair is what makes this world turn!"

"The bloody hell are you going on about?" Jokuno asks.

"Oh, you probably don't know her... or don't _remember_ her," Monokuma says. "So don't worry about it. You'll probably learn alllll about her soon."

"Her," Jokuno says. "The one behind this is a her. You're talking about the person running this, aren't you? Aren't you!?"

"Oops! Maybe I've said too much! I'm out!" Monokuma says, and disappears. We hear a _ding!_ as the elevator doors open.

I stay at the stand, and take a deep breath. I don't even know what's going on, as I have yet another headache, and it's _killing_ me this time. I'm all dizzy, lightheaded, and I feel like I'm about to collapse.

"Hitaka?" I hear Saya ask from right next to me. Dammit, if I look in her direction, I'm probably going to vomit all over her.

"Hey, hey, bro, you alright?" Toori asks, and puts my arm around his shoulder. "Come on. Let's just go."

Saya comes, and takes my left arm, doing the same thing. The two help me to the elevator, and it's all over before I know it. I wobble inside, followed by everyone else, and the elevator takes us up to the ground level. As we ascend, I feel relieved. Much more relieved, that we don't have to go through that anymore. No more accusations. No more 'executions'. We can't have another trial. We can't have anymore despair.

_'Despairdespairdespairdespair...'_

The doors open, and we're in the building again. I hear some people cursing, and crying, but for the most part it's mostly silent. I'm still a bit dizzy, but I'm feeling slightly better.

"Yamashita, go get him some water or something," Toori says, "I'm gonna take him outside."

"Yeah, of course," Saya says, and I hear her walk off.

"Hey, how're you doing?" Toori asks, as he takes me outside, into the winter cold. But, honestly, it was roasting down there, the fresh air was more than welcome.

"Fine," I say.

"Don't look fine to me," Toori says. "Don't worry. Yamashita's getting you something to drink, alright?"

I simply nod, barely, and lean against the wall. I'd sit down, if there was something to sit on, but I'd rather not sit on the snow. Besides, my random headache was going away again. _'What the hell is with those? They keep coming for a couple of minutes, and going...'_

"Hey," Saya says, opening the doors. "Here." she offers me a water bottle, and I gladly take it. She then throws Toori one, and opens one for herself. I weakly twist the cap off of mine, and drink like half the bottle in one gulp.

"I can't believe this." Toori says. "I just... can't believe we just watched that."

"It could've been fake," Saya says. "Or she could've survived. There's no way our captor can be that messed up, right?"

"No," I say, hoarsely. "No. It definitely happened."

"Huh?" Toori asks.

"I... I've figured it out," I mutter. "I've figured it all out."

"Figured what out?" Saya asks.

"This isn't a dream," I say. "This isn't a dream, or fake, or any of those better options. This is all... actually happening... and two of us are dead. I wish I could just... wake up, in my own bed, and... go back to a normal life, but, that can't happen."

"This is our new life. Our new life of despair."

* * *

><p>The young teen blinks, rapidly, in an attempt to get his eyes to refocus on the television screen in front of him. There wasn't anything else to do in the cell he was locked up in, and considering the content of the 'entertainment', it was rather important. And yet, he still had trouble watching it. Everyone did, according to the cries and screams of the kids down the dark hall. But, for this person, it was getting harder and harder. His injuries were getting to him. At this rate, he's not going to survive a few more hours.<p>

"Son..." his father mumbles, weakly putting a hand on his shoulder. "Just... don't worry... we're gonna get through this, y'know?"

"Dad..." the teen says, "Keep your strength, please..."

The kid looks over to his right, to see his mother. She'd been collapsed in the corner for a while now, and didn't even get to watch the trial. The entire time, neither the kid nor his father decided to check on her, to see if she was sleeping, or the worst had happened.

"Naw..." the father chuckles, just as weak as before. "I'll be fine... I'm made of goddamn steel!"

"No, Dad... you're not..." the teen says. "C-C'mon... you gotta stay up... f-for Yuushi, alright?"

"Don't worry 'bout 'im," the father replies, "Heh... he's a strong kid... and so are you."

"Dad?" the teen asks.

"...It's been too long without medical attention..." the father mutters. "And I'm losin' my strength... shit, kid, I ain't gonna make it..."

"Dad, no... don't talk like that..." the teen puts his hand on his father's arm, worried.

"Mm, you will though..." the father says, hoarsely. "You're strong, kid... I ain't. It's up to you... alright?"

"W-What is?"

"To... to get the fuck on out of here..." the father chuckles, again. "Get to your brother... and... shit, I guess the rest is up to you, kid..."

"N-No! Dad, I-I can't do this alone..." the teen says, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Naw, 'course y' can..." the father laughs. "I know, I know... I keep sayin' it, but it's 'cuz I mean it... you're goddamn strong. You'll make it through this."

"Please, Dad," the kid says, "Please. J-Just keep your strength. T-Take a deep breath!"

"Kid," his father looks over to him, "This is it. Look, I'm sorry. I... I wish I could do something... and not just fuckin' die like a coward..."

"D-Don't say that!"

"Wish I could go with ya..." the father says. "Fuckin'... find whoever put Yuushi there..."

"...Then... then, I'll do it," the kid says, gripping his father's sleeve. "I'll do it. I'll get Yuushi out of there."

"Heh..." the father smiles. "You're a hell of a kid. I know I'd be happy to have you as a little brother."

"Too bad," the kid says, smiling. "I'm your son. And you're my dad."

"And don't you goddamn forget it..."

"Upupupu!" a childish voice suddenly echoes through the hall, followed by gasps and more cries.

"Augh, he's fuckin' comin'..." the father scoffs. "Maybe he'll actually let you free... Go. Be careful. Just, dammit, be careful... and once you find whoever's behind this fuckin' bear, kick his ass for me."

"Will do."

* * *

><p><strong>#thatawkwardmomentwhenyougetsickforaweekanddon'tupdate<strong>

**Hello! Again! So, apparently I'm alive. Didn't feel alive that's for damn sure, went and got sick for like a week. Sat in bed the entire time, didn't really have the motivation to write this. Would've rather spent that time working on this, kinda feel like I half-assed this, but dammit it was pissing me off. The fact that it wasn't done yet, anyway. So, I decided, 'well if I can't make a super long ten-part trial with a crazy twist I'll just put a buncha feels' and that's exactly what I did. This could've been way better, but I decided for the first murder, it should be a simple one, which'd make the most sense. Not every single teenager in the universe(or in this case Japan) are criminal masterminds, and they only had like, what, nine hours to commit the murder? That feels like a crappy excuse, but yeah, this was definitely simple on purpose. Don't worry, the next ones are probably gonna be like thirty-seven 10k parts and the killer's gonna end up being Naegi. Oh, and word count, as I need to mention this every time: 7,656. Not 10k, but what're you gonna do.**

**Oh, and Sumiyoshi's dead! Aw. I felt really bad doing that, but, it needed to be someone, and I figured a family-related motive that hits a little too close to home would work. It's weird writing Dangan Ronpa, cuz you got all these great characters, and it's just like 'nah at least half of them die yup mhm that's cool that's how things work' and I'm just like 'wtf that's gay man' then it's like 'bro' and I'm like 'bro' and it goes on like that for a while. Not really. Btw, if there was any OOC-ness here, which I feel like there was a lot of, please tell me, it's hard to write other people's characters. So yeah. Anyway, replies to reviews! (Why does this have almost half a hundred reviews.)**

**Veltrops: Oh. Wow. You got like, all of that right. As for not using water, I figured the culprit was in a rush, and didn't even think to use water. OrIforgotbutthatcouldn'thavehappened. But, haha, thanks! It was cool seeing someone try to figure that out._  
><em>**

**Hero of the Dark: Thanks! Like I said, investigations about murder and death are actually gonna be at least halfway decent. I swear!**

**TheRoseShadow21: Hehe, yeah, that's the best kind of mystery! The more suspects the better!**

**MizunashiFuyuko: I figured doing that would ensue whale noises. And yeah, it was around midnight, as proven by this chapter. Let's hope we have more despair-induced whale noises!**

**Shiranai Atsune: Ooh mystery, whatchu gon do**

**SHSL Slacker: YUP there goes the Utaite. That sucks. He was chill. And, you totally _almost_ got that right with Erik! Oh, and as for the kanji, just more reason to prove it wasn't Kisaki who wrote it :P**

**Makoto Naegi: Thank you! Saya's a great character, good to know I'm writing her correctly. And thanks on the writing style thing! I'm weird with my writing, idk. I try to be unique. Especially with this stupidly dark tone. No, like, legit, considering making the rating M. EhhIdunno.**

**Myshiroyuki: Ha, yeah. I'd think that Jokuno would try to like lead a group or whatever he's put in, with his type of character, meaning he talks a lot. Hopefully not too much.**

**LadyGlitchy: It's always crazy waiting for the trial, isn't it? Even in other fanfics, I'm all 'dammit update already!' when someone dies, lol. Suppose I should've updated this sooner then...**

**Shadowplayer360: I played around with the idea a bit, lol. After going through everyone, I eventually felt like the Sumiyoshi-killing-Kisaki thing would be the best. Not saying this means he'll stay innocent... ;) Oh, and wasn't everything(except 5) confirmed for this year? I know Persona 5's coming out next year on PS3, and Q's coming out this Fall or something on 3DS, but not 100% sure about everything else. Can't wait for Q, but I kinda wish they wouldn't work on like five games at once...**

**LightBlueRoses: That'd be interesting, wouldn't it? Somebody had the clue to the culprit, but it's not revealed until they talk about the message. But, nah, we got some framing going on up in here.**

**pikachushinx: Exactly! The protag can't die. He's like, invincible, if your character's a protag you better believe he's gonna get shot by a shotgun, burned alive, ran over by a truck and _still_ be rollin' like the badass he is.**

**And I guess that's all! Well, no, it's not, as I need to continuously edit these. I'll be back. Probably. Hopefully I nailed everything down this time. Warning at the top, replies to reviews, mention of word count... okay, okay we _should_ be good. If I fail to realize something, or again I messed up some characters, tell me. Anyway, thanks for reading, I'll see you l- WAIT. WAIT WAIT HOLD ON. NOPE JUST REMEMBERED SOMETHING. Like literally just now as I was typing that. I'm gonna be going away for like five days. So during the next week, the story's being put on hiatus. Don't worry, after I'm back, I'll return to writing this, and upload the first part of Chapter 2! ANYWAY. If we're good now. I will see you all later. G'night.**


	7. Chapter 2 Part 1: Armed

**[A/N: It's aliiive! Replies to reviews down below as always. And, don't worry, this chapter isn't going to include messed up executions like last time around. Still, tread with caution.]**

* * *

><p>"...Two of them are dead."<p>

"That execution was brutal... It's not usually like Monokuma to do something like that."

"Well, it's always someone different, right? I guess we just got one of the more crazier ones..."

"Still. They are still a part of this game. We cannot let this go on anymore, what are we _doing?_"

"But, we don't even know where they are yet..."

"We'll find out, then. Besides, from what I can tell, it looks rather familiar..."

"Yeah, you too? If that's what I think it is, it'll make things much easier..."

"...I know what you two are thinking. You remember what happened there. Ever since, it's been off the grid, anything about is gone. Honestly, it could be anywhere."

"And I's don't think anyone'd remember a buncha fuckin' coordinates."

"So... then, for now, we can't find them?"

"No. It must be possible. We just need time."

"Time isn't something we really have..."

"I know. As soon as we can, we have to get them out. But, making a move now would be impossible... Don't be too hasty. We find them first."

"Right... yeah, you're right. I'll get back to work."

* * *

><p>I just... slept, after the trial. I slept the day away, and had a dreamless nap. My fever was getting to me, as I felt much more tired afterwards, and things like swallowing and breathing were becoming more and more of a problem. Thankfully, my headache was long gone, and for now all I needed was rest. According to the ElectroID, it was coming close to dinner time, and I haven't even eaten at all, so needless to say I was getting quite hungry. Except, getting off my ass and finding food was going to be a bit hard.<p>

_Beep beep_

My ElectroID suddenly goes off, and I find someone directly sent me a message. _'Who'd send me a message?'_

I open up the application, and what I find is a tad different then what I thought, although definitely still welcome.

_[6:01PM]Suzuki Mihane: "hey, hitaka, are you getting hungry? I thought I'd come give you some food since you're resting"_

_'Oh, what? Huh. I'm okay with this.'_

_[6:01PM]Hitaka Yuushi: "I'm starving, I'd love some food"_

I type out a response to Suzuki, and get more comfortable in the bed. Apparently these people here are giving me food now. Crazy bunch, I tell you.

I start to realize that my fever's really settling in now. You know when you have that like, one day where you're just all 'hmm, my throat's hurting, I'm sure I'll be fine', then the next you're coughing and dying in bed? Well, I think I'm at the first day part. Well, I mean, _maybe_ I'll be fine, I survived yesterday, but, I dunno.

_Ding dong_

A bell goes off in my room, suddenly. _'Huh? A doorbell? I didn't even know we have those...'_

"Hey, Hitaka. It's Suzuki, open up." Suzuki's voice comes from the other end, muffled. _'That was fast.'_

I manage to get out of my bed, and sure, maybe I was wobbling and almost fell over along the way, but I made it to my door, and opened up. Suzuki stood, holding two MREs in one hand, and in the other two plates with two water bottles on them. I also notice, behind her, that it's snowing again. Plus it's another nice, cloudless, dawn sky. Wish I wasn't feeling like crap to see it.

"Let me in, it's cold." Suzuki says.

I invite her in, and close the door behind her. Thankfully, I didn't sneeze or anything from the cold, but with not wearing a jacket, it was freezing. Y'know, I hate cold, winter's probably my favorite season due to the snow and all but I could _really_ do without the cold.

"Ah, thanks for the food," I say, as Suzuki sets everything down on my desk, and sits there. _'Why's there two of everything? And now she's sitting in my- ohh.'_

"Don't worry," Suzuki says, "I was hungry, too. I hope you don't mind if I eat here?"

"Um, no, o-of course not." I reply. _'Ho-kay then. I'm eating dinner with a girl in my room. That's- that's impressive, good job me.'_

"I got you a random MRE, I hope that's okay," Suzuki says, as she hands me an MRE. I read it, and see... Veggie Burger. Oh. _'Isn't that the one that's more or less dog food?'_

"Right, uh, thanks," I say. "What'd you get?"

"I got a Chicken Fajita," she says, "I thought this might be good." _'Chicken Fajita? I would've liked a fajita...'_

I sit down on my bed, and put the plate, water bottle, and MRE on my lap. I opened the Veggie Burger box and spilled out the contents. They were pretty much the same as the Chili with Beans, with a snack for later, a bag of condiments and such, and there was a bag of 'potato sticks' which I assume is just fries. Also with these were two pieces of bread, some raisins, and powder for some kind of grape drink. And, of course, the burger, and the Flameless Ration Heater finished it off.

"Ah, you know how to make these, right?" Suzuki asks, as she puts her food in the FRH.

"Uh, yeah, of course," I say. I wasn't sure if I had to heat up the fries, so I just kind of left those on the side. I put the Veggie Burger pouch in the heater, pour a little water in, and lean it against my water bottle. Wish I had something better to lean it on, but whatever. Suzuki leans hers against the wall, and we wait.

"How are you feeling?" Suzuki asks.

"Um, well, a bit better I guess," I say. "Well, no, I think I'm getting sick. But I'm not dying like earlier."

"Ah," Suzuki says. "Well, you know, that fence is gone."

"Huh? You mean the electric fence?" I ask. _'What does she mean? Is it actually gone?'_

"Yeah," she replies, "That one. We got a couple more buildings, but there's another fence cutting the rest off."

"Oh, what do we have?" I ask.

"There's an infirmary," she starts, "It has medicine, and there's tools for surgery. I got you some cough medicine, for after." _'Well, it's not really a cough I have, but alright.'_

"There's also a firing range," she continues, "The targets move and everything." _'Oh, good, as soon as that armory's open, people are gonna start shooting...'_

"And, also, there's a storage building," she says, "We haven't really looked at what's in there, but it's really big, and there's a ton of stuff thrown around."

"Huh. Is that everything?" I ask.

"Um... oh, wait, there's one more thing," Suzuki says, "The armory is open." _'Wait. What?'_

"The armory?" I ask.

"Yeah," she says, "It's just like we thought. There's shotguns, automatic rifles, I'm pretty sure there were some missiles, too..."

"Oh, jeez. That's probably gonna be bad." I reply.

"Yeah... we were thinking of just hiding everything," Suzuki says, "But then, Monokuma decided against that. I don't know if you noticed, but there's a new rule." _'New rule? I must've slept right through it.'_

"So we can't hide the weapons?" I ask.

"No. There's also crates of ammunition for each gun." Suzuki says.

"Ah, great..." I deadpan. "Bunch of rifles and shotguns on display for everyone to use. And I bet there'll be another motive tonight, because 'despair' or whatever."

"I don't think so..." Suzuki says, thoughtfully. "It's barely been a day. Maybe we'll have more time."

"I hope so."

For a little while, it's quiet. A couple more minutes pass, and we agree that our MREs must be ready by now. And so, I take my veggie burger out, slap it on the pieces of bread, and take a bite. Not too bad, actually. Of course, it tasted and looked like dog food, but it wasn't all terrible.

"How's your food?" Suzuki asks.

"It's alright," I say. "Yours?"

"Fine," she says. Then it's quiet again. It was kinda awkward, I won't lie.

I continued eating my burger, trying to think of a topic to bring up. I didn't want to say anything related to the situation, but Suzuki kinda stopped that.

"Hey. The motive, last night..." Suzuki starts. "Monokuma said our families will stop being tortured after a murder."

"A-Ah. Yes, yes he did." I say, wincing at the memory of the pictures rising. _'Not what I wanted while eating.'_

"We haven't seen any proof of that," Suzuki says. "...You don't think it was a lie, do you?"

"I'm still hoping _all_ of it was a lie," I reply. "But, dammit, I don't know. After the trial, I'm doubting those thoughts."

"Oh?"

"I think it's really starting to hit me now," I say, as I take a bite of the burger. "This is all happening. We're actually here. And because of it, two people are dead."

"Yeah..." Suzuki nods. "You're right. People are dying. This really is happening, isn't it?"

"Yup. But it's only been like a day and a half," I say, "Help's gotta still be on the way... right?"

"I don't know," Suzuki sighs. "I really hope so. But, something else has been on my mind."

"Yeah? What's that?" I ask, taking a sip of my water. It kinda burns as it goes down, and I confirm my throat is totally going to be sore tomorrow.

"Well, I'm not really sure about this, but..." Suzuki says, wondering about something. "Do you think Kisaki knew? Knew why he was being called to the mess hall?"

"Well, I suppose not," I say. "That would mean he knew he was going to die."

"Exactly," Suzuki says, looking away. "If someone died, then everyone's family would be saved. What if he let it happen?"

"What, you think he let Sumiyoshi kill him?" I say, raising an eyebrow. I won't lie, though, it kind of made sense. I never seen Kisaki as a hero, no offense to the man, so I don't know...

"...I'd have done it," Suzuki suddenly says. "To save everyone's families. Think about it, because Sumiyoshi killed last night, your family is safe now."

"We don't know that," I shook my head. "You said it yourself. We have no evidence it even happened."

"Still..." she says, frowning.

We end up just going back to our food, after that. With nothing else to say, we finish our dinner, in quietness. This time, it wasn't really awkward. It just... I don't know.

"Thanks for letting me eat here," Suzuki says.

"Yeah, of course," I reply, "No problem."

Suzuki takes the bottle of cough medicine she had, and leaves it on my desk. She's silent, as she then walks towards the door, but turns to me for a moment. "We should hold a funeral. For them."

_'A funeral... not a bad idea...'_

I nod, and Suzuki leaves. Thankfully, she decided to take my garbage too, so my room's not all dirty with food. I find myself just sitting there, in thought about everything she said. There's... something about Suzuki, but I can't tell what. There's just something _bothering_ me. And yet I don't know why. She wants to hold a funeral for Sumiyoshi and Kisaki. Apparently, she would've died for our families. Is there really anything bad about her?

Nah... course not.

* * *

><p>Hours passed. I fell asleep again, which I've been doing a lot, and woke up a few hours later to Monokuma's night time announcement. I would've just went back to sleep, but, I had to get out of this stupid bed. It was seriously uncomfortable, and I'd been in it the entire day.<p>

I take a quick visit to the bathroom, and brush my teeth for the night, as well as taking some of the medicine Suzuki left me. Of course, it tasted like crap, but I did feel it working soon enough. I yawn, looking over to my jacket, and decide I might as well get out of this room, and get some fresh air, maybe see if anyone's outside. And so, that's exactly what I did.

Okay, maybe that wasn't a great idea considering I'm still kind of sick. The cold immediately hits as soon as I open the door, and it's even more unpleasant than before. My throat burns as I breathe it in, and I end up having second thoughts. But, still, I keep going, because being in this room for so long was actually pissing me off. Stupid thing. I don't know why, just, it's stupid.

The first thing I do is look for the electric fence. And, sure enough, part of it is gone. The part surrounding the rooms and behind the building is still there, around the outside of the barracks, but the front- opposite of the building- is gone. And, there lay three more buildings, just like Suzuki said. _'Why would the fence be gone? Is it because someone died or something?'_

I stuff my hands into my pockets, exhaling the cold air, and start walking towards the buildings. I see a medium-sized one, two floors, with a huge red plus above it, directly in front of me. To my left, is an old-looking building, also one floor, which I was unsure what it was. And then, on my right, was a rather large building, something like a warehouse, going well past four, maybe even five floors. Surrounding the three buildings, is another fence, blocking us from going any further. It's like this area was opened up on purpose. _'Hm...'_

The first building I walk into is the one with the plus sign on it. I end up in a lobby of sorts, with a desk on the far wall, with computers behind it. To the right were some chairs, as well as a desk with outdated magazines. On the left was a vending machine, which was working oddly enough, with snacks and drinks in it. Next to the desk was a door with a sign reading 'Patient Rooms'. And, of course, on the ceiling was a camera, watching my moves.

_'There's computers here... If I can get internet, or at least just get them on, that would be perfect!'_

Even though I knew Monokuma was probably about to come scold me for trying this, I go behind the desk to try to get the computers working. Besides, the rules say there's no limits on our investigations, right? I see a seat right behind a monitor and desktop, and sit right down. I hit the power button on the desktop, with hope that the screen turns on.

_'C'mon, c'mon, give me something...'_

I wait for something to happen, but the screen stays dark. Nothing comes up. _'Oh dammit... wait, what's that?'_

I suddenly hear something loud in the lobby. In fact, it was quite close. Like, right next to me. I look to where I believe this weird whirring sound is coming from, and my eyes fall upon the desktop. And, the power button I pressed moments ago, had now turned blue. The sound I hear seems to be coming from the desktop, as well. _'The desktop...'_

I look at the monitor, and realize there's a power button on there too. I press it, as soon as I see it, and...

_'Oh!'_

The screen comes to life, showing me the screen of a working computer. The background was simply black, and there wasn't any internet browsers or anything important like that, but there was a lone text file, in the middle of the screen.

_'Hopes... Peak?'_

Using the mouse on the desk, I click the file, opening it. _'That name... that sounds familiar, but where?'_

_The events at Hope's Peak Academy were a failure. A brutal, terrible failure._

The file started with those two sentences. Confused, I read on.

_She was never supposed to lose, but she did. Those goddamned kids escaped. It was that asshole in the hoodie, if it wasn't for him, it would've went exactly as it should've._

Okay, now I was just at a complete loss. Still, there was more.

_Super Highschool Level Hope they were calling him... Disgusting. Absolutely fucking disgusting. Whatever, this batch doesn't have anything like that. I was right in picking these, there's no way anything like that can happen again, they will not escape. I'll avenge her. Her death will not be in vain. Her despair will continue._

It ends after that. I read the file over and over again, trying to make sense of it. But, I get nothing, nothing at all. That word, despair, showed up again. And Hope's Peak Academy...

_'Wait, no. I know what that is.'_

Hope's Peak Academy was a prestigious, private high school. Only the best of the best get in. You don't apply, the school searches for people who are the best in Japan at what they do, and invites them. The best young sports players, musicians, authors, artists, hell, if you were the best juggler around you'd probably be a part of this school. And if you were invited, you better damn go join them, because that's a once in a lifetime thing, and success is guaranteed after graduating. Honestly, the only reason I know this is because it's so popular worldwide, and because, well, the school I was supposed to go to had a lot in common with it.

Flying Stars High School.

It was a lot like Hope's Peak, really. Both used Super Highschool Levels. For Flying Stars, you'd have to apply, and it wasn't nearly as big as Hope's Peak, but they were essentially one and the same. Only difference being, it was easier to get into Flying Stars.

That does not explain why Hope's Peak Academy is being brought up here.

I attempt to turn on the other computers, but none of them work. None of the monitors do anything either. And, of course, the computer couldn't pick up any internet signals. So nothing there.

_'Ugh... I'll talk with everyone about it tomorrow. Not in the mood for this right now.'_

I turn off the computer, and continue, going through the Patient Rooms door. I'm greeted with a hallway, with eight rooms on either wall, and a staircase at the end. I take a quick look in each of the rooms, and they pretty much are all the same. Like Suzuki said, there's tools for surgery, medicine, and of course, each room has a bed for patients. Things like heartbeat monitors surround the beds, and aside from an odd smell, everything seems like a usual hospital.

I walk up the stairs, and immediately stop, as soon as I see the state of the second floor. My eyes scan the floor, and I step back, in _horror._

_'What the hell? W-What the hell is this!?'_

The hallway has one dim light in the middle, illuminating the hallway somewhat. And, from what I can see, the entire place is soaked in something bright, pink, and something I had more than enough of already.

Bloodstains take up the entire hallway, as well as what appears to be bulletholes in the walls. It's dark, but the neon pink is more than noticeable. The ceiling is also stained with blood, and parts of the walls were blown away by what must have been explosives. I stand in the dark, bloody hallway, paralyzed where I stand in fear.

_'What happened!? Blood? Bulletholes? Half the wall has been destroyed! Ah, shit...'_

I suddenly remember what Suzuki said earlier. The armory is open. And inside are guns, and missiles. I don't think a missile went off in here, but small explosives? I wouldn't be surprised.

_'The armory is open... whatever the hell happened here seems to be the work of things that'd probably be in there...'_

My hand hovers over my pocket, with my ElectroID. I briefly think of messaging everyone, to see if everyone's okay, but decide against it until I look through this hallway. _'Nobody here could've done this, right? Monokuma? No, no, I would've woken up... right? I was in my room the entire time, and the only thing I heard was Suzuki outside, and that barely came through...'_

I take a deep breath, and step forward, into the hallway. I'm shaking, as I walk, and feel as if I should just get the hell out of here. But, no, I need to know what happened here. The first door on my left has been blown away, so I decide that's a good place to start as any.

The room is as I expected. The bed is soaked in blood, and the mattress is barely even on the frame. The heartbeat monitors are in pieces, clearly being part of the explosions. Any fridges with medicine are also long gone. It's as if someone went on a rampage in here, wanting to kill everyone or something...

I continued on. Peeking inside every room. Nothing stood out, other than the fact that something terrible happened here. And honestly, I wanted nothing to do with it. After confirming there was no more reason to be in there, I ran down the stairs and left the infirmary, attempting to get out as fast as I could.

_'Dammit... Why didn't Suzuki say anything about this place? They must've found the file, and at least bothered to go upstairs...'_

I stood in front of the building, and the cold was the least of my worries. I wanted to know what the deal with the infirmary was, but decided thinking of it too much might not be the best idea right now. Besides, it was late, I couldn't get my brain to work that much. I was about to continue on, before something stopped me.

"Hm? Hitaka?" a voice called out from behind. I turn around, and see Placide standing there, now wearing a tan jacket, with a brown scarf around her neck.

"Oh, hey," I greet her.

"Hello," she says, smiling. "Um... how are you?"

"Fine, I guess," I say. "Erm, well, not really. I guess you already seen the infirmary..."

"O-Oh..." Placide says, looking downward. "Y-Yeah. We did. I-I'm sorry you had to see that!"

"No, no, don't worry," I reply. "Just... caught me off guard."

"Someone should've told you," she says, frowning. "S-So, what are you doing out here, anyway? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"Hah, probably," I joke. "Had to get out of that bed. Suzuki came and told me the fence was gone, so I had to come check that out."

"O-Oh, right," she nods, "After the t-trial was over, the fence was gone..."

"Yeah, which is kinda weird..." I say. "How about you? What're you out for?"

"Ah, I-I just wanted some fresh air..." Placide smiles. "Th-there isn't much to do, a-and I'm not really tired, so..."

"That's true," I say. "It's... kinda boring."

Placide nods, and then goes silent. She looks like she wants to say something, though. I decide to give her a second.

"S-So... um..." she starts. "Y-You're investigating, right?"

"Mhm," I nod.

"W-Well, um..." she looks away. "C-CanIhelp!?" she quickly asks, then covers her face with her hands.

"...Yes, yes you can help," I roll my eyes, although I end up smiling at the act. "C'mon."

"T-Thank you!" she smiles, walking up next to me. _'...right.'_

I nod, somewhat awkwardly, and start walking. Considering what I just seen, a firing range doesn't sound like it'd be all that great. The next building I look at is the storage building.

I push open the heavy doors of the warehouse, letting Placide in. This time around, there's absolutely no light at all, and it's pitch black. _'A flashlight would've been good right about now.'_

"O-Oh," Placide says. "Th-that's right. There's no lights in here."

I pull out my ElectroID and turn it on, deciding to use the screen as a light. The ElectroID lights up the area around us, only showing a couple feet in front of us. It doesn't help much, but at least we can see where we're going now.

The ground is some sort of concrete, I assume. The walls are white, and have small windows at the top of each, letting a tad bit of moonlight spill in. The ceiling is high up, and curves up into a triangle. In front of us, are a ton of shelves, all stacked with random items. Placide and I walk through one of the aisles, taking a quick look.

Surprisingly, nothing too bad is in the building. I expected to see explosives and poisons, from a certain bear, but thankfully there's none. There's mostly just things like ammunition for some guns, lining up the shelves. There were also some snacks, like chocolates and such, as well as containers of water bottles and sodas. Which'd be good if they weren't going to be warm. We also found a crate filled with clothes, thank god. Camoflage jackets and pants lay, as well as t-shirts and even boots. I decide to take a couple pairs with me, so I have something to change into. The rest was just random necessities, such as toothpaste, and even some bottles of shaving cream. Remembering the stubble on my chin, I grab a bottle and a few disposable shavers.

I eventually decide there's not much of use in here. At least, not for now. I hold a box with the things I grabbed, and leave, Placide following. _'Suppose I can come back tomorrow and grab some more stuff.'_

"Hmm... I suppose I should've grabbed some things too..." Placide says.

"Yeah, I dunno, I'm not a fan of being kidnapped like this," I say, "But, I'm still gonna feel gross without clothes to change into, so..."

"Th-that's true..." Placide puts her hand to her chin, in thought. "I-It's good we have all the things we have here, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"W-Well... M-Monokuma was nice enough to give us fresh clothes," she says, "And showers, and other things to keep clean..."

"Yeah, that's true," I reply, "It feels kinda weird. We shouldn't even be able to move around like this."

"I-I know!" Placide agrees. "Thankfully, we can, though... I couldn't think of any of us being locked up or something like that..."

"Yeah, that'd definitely suck." I chuckle.

The next building on our list is the firing range. After this, it's just the armory, then I'm pretty much done. The building is somewhat big, I notice, before walking in.

As we enter, I realize it's kind of like the infirmary. Chairs lay around, and in place of the desk, is one of those ticket stands, like at the movies. There's a small desk, with glass surrounding it, with a little spot open for putting things through. If I recall correctly, this is where you give the guns back when you're done. Although, to be fair, anything I know about guns is from movies, and that's still not much. There's a door next to the desk, so we walk through.

On our left are ten stalls, and a large open area in front of them. Sure enough, in the large area, there are a bunch of targets. On the right is a simple wall, with a few small guns and magazines up on it. _'So this is where you come to shoot.'_

I wasn't totally sure why there were guns here, and guns in an armory, but after looking through there, I decided that was about it for the firing range. Placide said there wasn't anything else, so we left the building.

"Now there's just the armory," Placide says. "There's not much, aside from some g-guns."

"Well, we might as well go check it out anyway," I say. "I wanna know if I should be worrying about someone running around with a shotgun anytime soon..."

"Um... that might not be impossible." Placide replies. _'Oh. Well that's good.'_

We enter the main building next to our rooms, and of course, the heaters greet us with their warmth. Which I was grateful for, as I start to realize the cold is _really_ wearing me down. _'I shouldn't take too long out here... need to go back to sleep...'_

I walk over to the armory, Placide following, and push on the heavy, white, door. There's a click, and the door gives, opening. Apparently, the keycard lock isn't going to be a problem. The two of us walk in, and thankfully, this time around there's adequate lighting. There's a small white table in the middle of the room, and the three walls of the room are stacked with weapons. And just as I feared, it's like Suzuki said, plus more. There's shotguns, rifles, handguns, machine guns, one wall even held a rocket launcher of some sort. Assorted randomly around the room were huge crates, all filled with different kinds of ammunition. Boxes of ammo for revolvers, shotgun shells, everything. If I truly wanted to, I could load an actual gun and shoot it. Possibly at someone.

And somebody could shoot me. That scared me.

_'...yep, screw that.'_

I walk over to the wall holding handguns. There were pistols of all sorts, I could identify a couple as M1911s, and then there were the more heavy hitting ones like revolvers. Then there were the unnecessarily huge ones like what I'm pretty sure is a Desert Eagle. Now, I know nothing about guns, how to work them, or anything like that, but honestly...

_'I don't know what's going to happen here... I think some kind of protection doesn't sound bad.'_

I take an M1911 off the wall and examine it for a moment. To my surprise, it wasn't already loaded, which I would've expected from Monokuma. I look at all the switches and buttons, getting to know where everything is. _'There's the safety, that's obviously the trigger, that's the barrel...'_

"Hitaka? Wh-what are you doing with that?" Placide asks. I look over, and notice she's on the other side of the room, practically cowering in fear. _'Oh. Crap, that's right, she's here.'_

"I, um, I dunno," I say. "I just... wanted to look at it." I decide to put the weapon back. I'll take it once there's no one around. _'If I can keep it a secret, that'd be for the best.'_

"R-Right..." Placide relaxes, once she sees me put the gun back.

I look around some more and realize that there's something missing. I look to the wall on the right, containing mostly shotguns, and get a better look at it. And, definitely, something is missing. _'Shouldn't there be another shotgun here...?'_

"Hm..." Placide comes and looks at the wall. "I-I thought there was another one there... o-oh no, did someone take it!?"

"Guess we'll have to wait and see..." I mutter. _'That definitely doesn't sit right...'_

"Well... I-I think that's everything out of here..." Placide says. "Um, I'm sorry I t-took up your time!"

"Eh?" I ask, confused. "I was going to come here anyway."

"W-Well..." Placide looks away. "Y-You didn't expect me to come with you, did you? I-I'm sorry!"

"Er..." I raise a brow at Placide. She looks sad, as if she had actually done something. "I was fine with you coming, honestly."

"B-But I forced myself to come with you!" Placide says.

"...Not really?" I say. "You didn't do anything wrong. I thought it was nice of you to come, anyway."

"R-Really?" Placide looks up at me.

"Yes," I reply. "C'mon, we should probably go."

Placide nods, and with nothing else to investigate, at least not until tomorrow, we leave the armory.

_'Placide's definitely a handful... She seems to keep on thinking she did or might do something bad. Wonder how that habit came about...'_

We leave the building, say our goodbyes, and return to our rooms. And, honestly, I was exhausted. I plop down on my bed, after throwing my jacket on my desk. The moment I close my eyes, I'm out cold.

* * *

><p>...<p>

...

_"Not what you expected, is it?"_

_"Argh, f-fuck off!"_

_"Sorry, what was that?"_

_"AAAAGH! ...dammit..."_

_"It's funny. You were so, so desperate. You call yourself a fighter, and yet, you fell deeper, and deeper into despair, so easily. You felt helpless, didn't you?"_

_"...C-Could... could I feel anything different!? This bullshit is-"_

_"Ah ah ah. I never said you can talk, did I? Perhaps I should grab the tape again?"_

_"...Tch..."_

_"Right. That's better. Now, something happened. You know what it was. All we want is answers, to know what you know, but you're not cooperating."_

_"I'm not telling you shit! I-I know, you're one of them, aren't you!?"_

_"My allies are not of importance. Now, I know, you're not one to give up. To roll over and die. But, that is exactly what is going to happen, very, very, soon. It would be for the best if you tell me what I want to know, or else you're going in the ground."_

_"Hah... fuck off... I'm gonna get the fuck out of here!"_

_"Such profanity... surely, you realize how much unnecessary cursing you use, correct? It saddens me. Anyways, honestly, I'm going to give you just a couple more hours. That's how long I say you have. I'll leave you to decide if you want to say something. If you do, I shall heal your wounds. Until later, fighter."_

_"..."_

* * *

><p><strong>#ThatMomentWhen... ok screw this nevermind<strong>

**WELP OKAY so I have returned from my random hiatus. Which may or may not have been me going on vacation. Man, I'm in Canada, it gets cold here dammit. Anyway, here's the first part of Chapter 2! This chapter'll probably be a bit longer than the first, as I wanted to set the story, get the darkness going, yada yada yada as soon as I could. I was gonna do an FTE vote for this chapter, but, I realized I haven't been writing certain characters enough, and figured I should give them some love too. Hope you liked that. Anyway, the next chapter will also have FTE(s? Idk) stuffs, so vote for that! Again, reviews, PMs, however you wanna get them to me, whoever you think we should get a Free Time Event. Like last time, the characters with the most votes get put in. ...but, honestly, I'm probably gonna end up writing an FTE for everyone in the next chapter somehow, and make like a 50k chapter. Speaking of word count! This time we have a grand total of 5,567 words. Probably would've been longer had I not disappeared for a week. I'll try and see if I can update any faster, but, things have been busy. Sorry about that.**

**Oh, and I have a question! What did you guys think of the format for the first Class Trial? It's the first time I wrote something like that, considering the fact that you usually don't write minigames, so I had a bit of a hard time there. Apparently doesn't allow arrows. So I've gotta change that, should I not forget, which I most likely will. Basically, the line that you would present evidence to in Nonstop Debates, would have arrows around it and be underlined, and if it wants to work, should've looked like this. I think I'll change it a bit for this chapter, and make it a bit, y'know, better. Alright, well, replies to reviews! Woo.**

**LightBlueRoses: Ohh yes. Since I'm writing this kind of tone, I kinda went crazy at the trial. Of course, this means really messed up executions. And, hrmm, I wonder what that robot thing was all about...**

**TheRoseShadow21: ...hm. Yeah, maybe I should dial it back a bit. Sorry about that. Thanks for the review either way!**

**Unify: Thank you! At first I was going to do something like that, but I figured this style of executions would work better. Anyway, thanks for reading! (Oh, and Encore of Despair is going really good. I was gonna put a review but hadn't found time. Everybody go check out this guy's story!)**

**pikachushinx: It's basically decided as soon as the story starts, yeah :P Figuring out a motive and execution was the hardest part so far, for sure(next to naming chapters. Why is that hard?). I knew I was gonna do a family motive, like, 'alright yeah so a thing is gonna happen to your family if you don't do the other thing' but, I was just sitting there thinking, 'okay wait how can I make this even more messed up than it already is' and then that happened. Executions are kinda easy, I guess, just do something ironic based on the character or something and bam. Okay, maybe Sumiyoshi's wasn't exactly 'ironic', but, idk.**

**Myshiroyuki: Thanks! It's always fun making something terrible happen to a bunch of characters and seeing what happens. Good to know I'm still writing Jokuno the right way. And, yeah, like I said above, the Nonstop Debates and the MTB were kinda hard to do. Hopefully they didn't distract from the story too much. Anyway, thanks for the review! :D**

**Susurruses: Yay for gruesome deaths! The more blood the better. Also, thanks for the review on the last chapter!**

**SHSL Slacker: I should start a new story, but, instead of there being a plot, and being based on anything, it'll just be a bunch of author's notes. It'll be amazing. Not sure what they'll be about but still. And, yeah, expect more feels, cuz that's prrrobably gonna happen again. Thanks for the review!**

**LadyGlitchy: Yes, yes it was! :D (In case that's not going to work, there's an arrow there. That's- that's not a happy face. That's a mad face. Or... whatever you call that. The happy face with the eyebrows.)**

**MizunashiFuyuko: YUP I told you there'd be more whale noises. And, hm, I myself have no siblings, so I didn't really think that'd happen, erm, sorry about that I guess, I imagine that wasn't cool. And yeah, seems like Yuki's a popular name lol. I didn't find room to explain every little thing about the murder, such as the message, but don't worry, this isn't the last you're gonna hear about this murder. Oh, and I swear, Jokuno and Dakota are two of my favorite characters, they're awesome. Maybe they won't get brutally murdered, depends on how I feel I guess. And, I wonder who that family was... (For the record, yes, I am going to respond to all speculation like that)**

**Shiranai Atsune: Thanks! :D**

**Aaaand I guess that's it there. Thanks for reading this thing, and remember to vote for FTEs! Not sure how many there'll be this time around but do it anyway. But, it's currently 11:30PM, on a Monday, and I'm freakin' tired so, I'm out. G'night everyone, see you soon!**


	8. Chapter 2 Part 2: Divided

**[A/N: Just a lot of swearing this time around.]**

* * *

><p><em>'I really shouldn't be out like this...'<em>

Stuffing my hands into my pockets, I sigh, walking through the hallways of the building. It was late, and I knew, I should just go back to bed, it's too dangerous to be out right now. I'm sure I'm not the only one who freaked out, especially after whatever the hell _that_ was.

_'Look at me. Somebody's going to want to do something tonight, I know it, and yet here I am, walking around like no one's business. I've got a goddamn target painted on my back...'_

I come to the doors of the mess hall. I look up at the intimidating doors, and wonder if I should just go back. But, I couldn't, there was no way I could keep myself in that room. I was terrified, and there was no way I could get any sleep, which I could tell from tossing and turning for an hour straight. I didn't _want_ to sleep, I wasn't going to blink my eyes until I know everything is okay, or if I pass out. I didn't plan on the latter.

With shaky hands, I eventually push open the doors of the mess hall. The lights were still on, illuminating the cafeteria. Seemingly, the place seems empty, until something confirms that's quite false.

"H-Hitaka!" a voice calls out, surprised. I quickly snap my eyes to whoever it was, but relax when I see who it is.

"Ah, Sumiyoshi," I say to the girl sitting at the table. She puts something away, of which I'm pretty sure is an ElectroID, after typing something in it. Something seemed to be bothering her. "You alright?"

"U-um, yeah," she stutters. "I... couldn't sleep."

"Yeah, neither could I," I sigh. "Thought I'd come get something to eat."

"Ah..." she then smiles, nodding. "Would you like to eat together, then?"

"Sure, I guess," I say. "Let's go get something."

Sumiyoshi stands up from the table, and follows me into the kitchen. I'm really not that hungry, but, anything to pass the time would be good. The lights are of course still on in here, and for whatever reason, I notice the shelf holding utensils is slightly ajar. Sumiyoshi notices, and quickly closes it, nervously.

I open the fridge, leaning in to see what was in store. _'I'll just grab an MRE, I guess.'_ I toss them around, until I find one reading Sloppy Joe. Even though I wasn't totally sure if this going to be any good, I decide it's good enough. Sumiyoshi grabs an MRE as well, although I don't see what she got. The two of us are silent, as we grab plates, water, and other necessities we need. We walk back to the table Sumiyoshi was sitting at.

As we prepare our MREs, I notice Sumiyoshi's oddly quiet. I guess I was too, but, I felt like something was up.

"You doing alright?" I ask.

"...Y-Yeah." she says, but it came out really forced.

"You don't really seem alright." I say.

"Just... a lot on my mind." Sumiyoshi says, and goes back to her food.

I knew exactly what it was. The motive. I was still a bit shaken up too, and I could tell it was really affecting her.

"...You have family back home?" I ask, quietly. She understands why I ask.

"Uh huh." she whispers. "Five siblings. My parents are... gone, so I had to take care of them myself."

"That's gotta be tough." I say. "They young?"

"Yeah," she nods, "The oldest one is eight."

"Ah," I wince. "I... guess that motive-"

"Please." Sumiyoshi cuts me off. "D-Don't... bring it up."

"Right." I say. _'Damn... this is bad. Plus, there's the fact that the motive seems to be working well on her, and we're alone...'_

"I'm... not going to kill," she says. "I love them, I do, but I can't kill. I just... I can't."

"Same here," I say. "Won't lie, that motive is working for me too, but there's no way I can just... _murder_ someone."

"Good..." Sumiyoshi smiles, but I notice it's a weak one. "Good. Don't kill."

"'Course," I say. "You neither, right?"

"...Yeah." she says.

It's silent again. We wait a bit longer for our MREs to finish up, and after a few minutes, and take them out of the packaging. I take a look at Sumiyoshi's food and see she got some kind of Chili and Macaroni.

"The chili's not bad," I say, as I see it. "I had the chili with beans, it was alright."

"Ah," she says. "That's good."

The silence continues, as we eat. It's not exactly awkward, but it doesn't feel right, either. I feel like I should be saying something. I'm not sure what to say, though, considering I still have my parents, and my only sibling is in his teens, so I couldn't really sympathize with her. Or maybe it's her, is there something she needs to say?

"...Hitaka," she suddenly says, putting her fork down.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"This might seem weird, but..." she starts. "...What would you do if I was gone, tomorrow?"

"...Gone?" I ask. _'Gone? Like...?'_

"Like dead gone." she confirms.

"Wh-what do you mean?" I ask, confused.

"I'm just asking," she says. "I'm curious."

"Well..." I think. "I'd probably be pissed off. And I'd do my damn best to find whoever did it."

"Would you be sad?" she asks.

"Uh, yeah," I say. "I would. So would everybody else. No one's supposed to die."

"..." she goes silent again, nodding.

We go back to eating. The rest of the meal is silent. We finish up, and I decide to clean up. I toss the plates in the sink, and the rest of our MREs in the garbage. I'm about to leave, but Sumiyoshi stops me.

"Hey." she says, standing right in front of me, blocking the doors. "Stay strong. Okay?"

"Eh?" I ask.

"I can tell," she says, "You're a strong guy. Just, don't... don't lose. Okay?"

"...Sumiyoshi." I could tell where this was going. And I didn't like it. "Come on. I'm gonna walk you back to your room, and you're _not_ going to die, okay?"

"H-Huh?" she asks.

"We've gotta keep fighting," I say. "Someone once told me this: Never let anything overpower you. Always fight the opposition. And you can't lose any fight, and this is one we just can't lose, okay?" _'He was a hell of a trainer...'_

"...Thanks..." she says, tears obvious in her eyes. "I'll keep that in mind. I'll head back soon."

"...Are you sure?" I ask. Sumiyoshi nods, in response. I sigh, deciding there's no point in insisting, and nod back, before leaving.

Something was wrong. I had a feeling something might've happened tonight, and I think I just confirmed that something _will_ happen tonight. But, there's nothing I can do. I can't save everyone. At this point, I feel as if I shouldn't take the escape of death away from anyone, if that's what they really want. I don't want anyone to want that, but... what am I supposed to do?

I run into Kisaki, suddenly. He's in the building, and he looks nervous.

"Kisaki?" I ask.

"O-Oh!" he says, surprised. "Oh, uh, um. Hey dude."

"Hey. How're you doing?" I say.

"...Fine," he says. I can already tell he's _not_ fine. "Is Sumiyoshi in there? The mess hall?"

"Yeah," I say. "Why-"

"Right, thanks," he says. "L-Look, I'm in a rush. I'll... talk to you later... yeah."

Kisaki then walks quicker than before into the mess hall. I didn't like it. I didn't like any of it. I wanted nothing to do with it, so, I just went right back to my room, plopping down on my bed.

* * *

><p><strong>DAY 3<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>"It is now seeeven AM! Time to wake up! Let's make today into the best it can be!"<strong>

_'Goddamn nuisance...'_

Once again, Monokuma's morning announcement jolts me awake. I slowly open my eyes, but, I still feel tired, which was odd considering the fact that I got good sleep for once. I feel like I had a nightmare of some sort, though, last night. Can't remember what it was about. I think I was tied to something...

_'Argh. I still feel like sh-'_

"Achoo!"

My thoughts are cut off by-

"Aahh... _achoo!_"

God damm-

"Ugh... agh, _achoo!_"

_'Oh. Nice. I'm sick.'_

Standing up, I wobble into the bathroom, using some toilet paper to blow my nose. _'Ugh. Now I gotta go find some actual tissues, sit in bed all day, sneeze all over the place...'_ I splash some water on my face- nope, that didn't help- and quickly dry it off. I remember the change of clothes I brought the night before, and consider taking a shower. Could bring me back a bit, I suppose.

Grabbing the cough medicine I left on the sink, I take a swig. Well, I don't down the whole bottle, but, probably a bit more than necessary. I wince at the taste, _'how the hell is this supposed to be grape,'_ but, I feel it doing its magic soon enough.

_'So, do these showers really not work...?'_

I walk over to my shower, and twist the knob. Nothing comes out. I twist it the other way, but, same results. Apparently, they actually don't. Of course, Monokuma probably disabled them or something, but, I guess that's what the shower room's for.

_'Not a fan of showering with others, but...'_

I blow my nose again, for good measure, and decide I should get out of here. I throw on my jacket, grab a pair of the clothes I grabbed, and left.

Huh. It's snowing today. The snow is light, and it doesn't seem like there'll be a lot of it today. It's just as cold as usual, no difference there. I don't bother looking, but I don't see anyone else outside. Good.

I put my hood on, and walk to the building. The faster I take this shower, bring back some food or something, the better. _'I guess since I'll be changing I can put my other clothes to wash...'_

I can already hear everyone in the mess hall, as soon as I walk in. Whatever they're talking about, it seems to be loud. I hear an argument going on, between who I can't tell, but it seems heated. I decide to stay out of it for now. I open the door to the changing room, walking in.

The first thing I do is look for a camera. Monokuma's always got those cameras everywhere, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had one in here too. I scan the room, and oddly enough, there _weren't_ any cameras around. Apparently, Monokuma hadn't installed one in here. _'Wonder why...'_

"Upupu! You can't be looking for what I _think_ you're looking for, are you!?" Speak of the devil.

"Not in the mood, Monokuma." I say firmly.

"What, do you think that me, Monokuma, would put a camera in _here!?_" the damned bear walks in front of me, with his paws on his hips.

"I'm more surprised that there isn't." I roll my eyes.

"Oh please!" he says. "I don't want to see your weird teenager bodies! That's gross! And probably illegal!"

"...Of all the things that's happening here, you're worried about _that._"

"Well, yeah! I don't want the fuzz on me, man! I'm fuzzy enough, I'm a bear!"

"Monokuma-" I say. "Just- go away."

"Whaaat!?" he shouts. "Drop! Drop down and give me twenty!"

"You're not a sergeant!" I shout back.

"Yes I am!"

"No you're not!"

"Are you disrespecting an officer of the law!?"

"That's- that's completely different!"

"You're under arrest!"

"You can't do that!"

"Yes I can!"

"Go away!"

"Fine!"

Monokuma disappears to god knows where, and I simply stand there, facepalming. I groan, half to being sick and the other half to Monokuma, and do what I was supposed to do.

I grab a towel from the shelf, and wrap it around myself, as I finish folding my clothes, and leave the new outfit next to them on the bench. I notice there's another folded pair of clothes, on the opposite bench. _'Eh?'_ I walk into the shower room, and realize... that one of the showers are running?

"Eh?" I hear someone ask.

"...Eh?" I ask back.

"Oh, sh- Hitaka!" a female voice calls out, a familiar one. I see a brown-haired head hide behind the stalls.

"Dakota!" I call back, and look away. _'Of all the people here!?'_

"What the hell are you doing here!?" Dakota shouts, from her stall.

"W-Well, I planned on taking a shower!" I say back, keeping my eyes diverted, and walk into a stall at the end.

"S-So you pick _now!?_" she asks, obviously embarassed.

"Yes I pick now!" I say. "I didn't think you were gonna be here!"

"You should've asked or something!" she says.

"A-Are you trying to say this is my fault!?" I reply. I turn on the shower, and hang up my towel, making sure I'm hidden.

"Yes! It is!"

"But that doesn't-" I start. "Ugh. I'm sorry. I won't look, alright?"

"You better fuckin' not!"

I sigh, and look for soaps to use. Sure enough, there's little bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Good. I get some shampoo, and conditioner, and lather it around in my hair. _'Egh, it's all greasy...'_

"...So I guess that was you out there." Dakota suddenly says.

"Eh?" I ask.

"With Monokuma. The fuck was he saying? I couldn't hear shit." she replies.

"Uh... nothing."

"Sounded like _something_ was up," she says. "Did he tell you to do fuckin' push-ups or something?"

"...You misheard."

"Right..."

I continue on, in the shower. The water feels good, oddly enough. I half-expected to burn up and get poisioned or something the second I turned it on. Definitely needed a shower. I start to feel a bit more clean, and fresh, as I stay in there, but of course, this sickness is still there.

"Agh... _cough, cough,_ ugh, shit..." I start coughing, which I guess I should've expected.

"You alright over there?" Dakota asks, and the sarcasm couldn't be more obvious.

"I'm f- _cough,_ fuck- _cough, cough,_ I'm fine- _cough._"

"So you got fuckin' sick I see." I can practically hear her roll her eyes.

"Ugh, maybe..." I say.

"Well, go back to your fuckin' room after then, shit," she says. "You better not get me sick."

"Don't plan on walking around," this time, I roll my eyes, "I feel like crap."

"You have medicine?" she asks.

"Yeah, yeah," I say. "Suzuki dropped me some."

"Suzuki did?" she asks, puzzled. "Wouldn't'a expected that outta her."

"Yeah, I know," I say. "She got me food, too... and invited herself to eat dinner in my room..."

"Oh hoh _hoh!_" Dakota laughs. "You must've figured out what that means, right?"

"Not really, no..."

"Oh jeez, you're fuckin' dumber than I thought," she says, "Think about it. Why would a girl want to have dinner with you?"

"I figured she was just being nice?" I reply.

"I swear..." she sighs. "I'm not telling you, figure it out yourself."

_'Huh. So I guess she thinks, uh, _that,_ too.'_

"Right."

It goes silent again. Which is good. About five minutes later, Dakota speaks up again.

"Hey, I'm done," Dakota says. "...Stay in here, okay? I'll tell you when I'm done. No peeking!" I hear her shower turn off.

"Fine, fine," I say.

Dakota walks out, and I'm left alone. _'I guess I don't need to take much longer in here either...'_ I take a few more minutes in the shower, mostly just sitting there in the water. I do feel less tired, and could possibly do things today, but, it'd probably be bad if I got anyone else sick, so...

"Yeah, I'm done," Dakota opens the door, and calls out. I notice her hair's not in a ponytail, as it usually is. "I'm gonna head to the mess hall soon, heard 'em fuckin' screaming over somethin'..."

"Yeah, I'll be out of here soon," I say. "Probably gonna go over there, too."

"Right. Seeya." Dakota walks out again.

_'Well, no point in taking any longer in here...'_

I wash the soap off, and finish in the shower. I turn off the water, dry myself off with the towel, and wrap it around my waist. _'Christ, it's cold!'_

Shivering, I walk into the changing room. Sure enough, Dakota's gone, as well as the extra pair of clothes I saw. On the other bench, my clothes still sat, both my old clothes and my new camo outfit. Considering the fact that there's not much room for privacy in here, I take a corner of the room, and use the towel to, uh, _cover_ myself as I throw on the new clothes.

In what I found to be somewhat surprising, the clothes fit. The camoflaged pants were a little big, but fit well enough. The white t-shirt fit almost perfectly, and the only complaint for the camo jacket was that the sleeves were kinda long. Otherwise, everything fit fine. I grab my dirty clothes, as well as my winter jacket, and head out.

"...fucking Christ, what the hell!?" I heard someone shout.

"SHUT UP!" somebody screams back. "WHY THE FUCK IS EVERYONE BEING SUCH LITTLE _FUCKS!?_"

_'That... does not sound good at all.'_

I decide cleaning my clothes can wait, and throw them on the floor of the changing room, then run as fast as my legs can take me to the mess hall. Whatever was going on in there was getting louder, and seemingly more out of hand. I tried to apply names to the voices, but couldn't do shit there.

The doors were already open. The first person I saw was Dakota, who'd tied her hair up by now, shielding herself from something. Then I saw the rest of the kids, in a circle around something. I walk up next to Dakota, and see exactly what was going on.

"Oh... why _hello_ there," a mischievous voice says, supposedly to me. _'Is that..?'_ "I don't think we've met. How foolish of me!"

"Greetings. My name is Kenta Sakuro. It's a _pleasure_ to meet you!"

In the middle of the mess hall, was who I'm pretty sure at one point was Kenta. Now though? Not so sure. His blonde hair had changed, instead of it once being in a ponytail and covering his right eye, it was now in a bob-style, with the ponytail gone, and his bangs now covered his left eye- revealing a large scar just underneath his right. Oddly enough, his eyes were now a vibrant violet color, instead of what I'm pretty sure was green, before.

"You may call me Sakuro," he giggles, "No need to be so formal, right? We're all friends here!"

"Kenta?" I ask. "...Uh, what happened?"

"I don't fuckin' know..." Dakota whispers from next to me. "I walk in, and he's just fuckin' screamin' at everyone, and waving _that_ around."

I look at his hands, and realize something that could definitely be a huge problem.

"Kenta?" I ask again. "Please put down the shotgun."

In his hands, was a rather large, pump-action shotgun. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was loaded.

"I'm sorry," he says, "I _think,_ I said for you to call me _Sakuro._"

"Your name's not Sakuro," I say. "You're... Keiro, aren't you?"

"...Oh." I see his eye twitch, when I said that. "Hahaha. I see."

"Sakuro," Erik says, suddenly. "Please. It was a mistake, he didn't mean it." I notice Erik is now glaring at me.

"Well, it shouldn't have _fucking happened!_" Kenta- _Sakuro,_ starts screaming again, pointing the shotgun at Erik. "MY NAME IS SAKURO! CAN'T YOU DUMBFUCKS GET THAT INTO YOUR GODDAMN HEADS!?"

"O-Okay!" I say, putting my hands up in defeat. "I'm sorry! Sakuro! Yes, your name is Sakuro!"

"Hahahaha." Sakuro laughs. "I hope you know something. I am not Keiro. I will never be Keiro. I _despise_ him, and if something like that happens again, I'll _blow your goddamn face off!_"

"R-Right." I say. "Okay. That's fine."

"Sakuro." Jokuno says, next. "Put down the shotgun. We'll talk."

"Talk about what?" Sakuro asks, innocently.

"...Something," Jokuno says, "It doesn't need to be Keiro. We won't talk about him, if you put down the gun."

"Aww, I dunno about that..." Sakuro says, walking over to Jokuno, twirling the shotgun around. "I've become quite fond of this thing, actually."

"Now, can I ask a question?" Sakuro walks back into the center of the circle.

"Of... course you can," Saya replies, obviously terrified.

"Everybody always looks at me like I'm fucking mental," Sakuro says, a large frown on his face. "Why? What did I do? Like, _everyone_ does it, my- hmm, our, I guess- parents did it, those weirdos outside, all you assholes are, like, what the hell, man?"

"Everyone's always going on about Keiro," he continues. "Psh. He's not _that_ great of a twin. He never lets me play, he never talks to me, like, really, for _years_ he hasn't let me out!"

"...Let you out?" I suddenly gather the balls to ask.

"Yeah!" he says. "I think he hates me. Good, I hate him too. But, here I am, right!? Hahaha!"

"So... if you wanted to change to Keiro, could you?" Erik asks, carefully.

"Maybe..." Sakuro says, crossing his arms, thinking. "Why do you ask, E?"

"E...?" I hear Erik mumble. "I'm just curious. How would we get you change back?"

"...Ohhhhhh." Sakuro says, as if he just found something out. "I see."

"See what?" Erik asks, raising a brow.

"Alright. This goes to everyone! LISTEN UP!" Sakuro says, raising his shotgun in the air, and then pumping it. _'Crap, that's probably not good.'_

"Keiro's _gone!_" Sakuro shouts. "He ain't coming back! As long as I'm in control, you're never seeing that fucker ever again!"

"And as for anyone who wants _him_ back!? Wants me gone!?" Sakuro starts twilring the shotgun around again, making everyone step back. "Just remember I'm the motherfucker with the shotgun."

"...He's got a point." Jokuno mutters.

"H-Hey, uh, look," I say. "That's... great. Yeah. We... couldn't be happier to have you, Sakuro."

"I'm not fucking retarded." he rolls his eyes and stares into mine. "You don't need to talk to me like I'm a damn mental patient."

Erik makes a throat-cutting motion, glaring at me. _'Er. Maybe I should just shut up.'_

I simply nod, and Sakuro puts himself between Dakota and I.

"Anyway. I think I'm going to go now." Sakuro smiles, but none of it looks happy. "If you kids need me, I think I'll be in my room... or maybe that storage building, ooh, it's so exciting!" Sakuro leaves, skipping through the building.

"...Can someone explain what the hell just happened?" I ask.

"Yyyeah, that'd be great..." Dakota follows.

"Ugh. We know as much as you two do." Toori replies, scratching his head.

"Oh, hey," Suzuki suddenly walks up behind Dakota and I. _'Eh? Was she not here? I didn't even notice.'_ "What's going on?"

"No clue," Haru says, frowning. "Kenta randomly went all loopy."

"Mm... I think he might've been right, though." Hizen says, thoughtfully.

"E-Er, what do you mean?" Aito asks.

"He was calling himself Sakuro," Hizen replies. "And, none of Keiro seemed to be left. That definitely could've been a different person."

"Are you saying there's a seventeenth student or something?" Asai asks, confused.

"Not exactly. Or, well..." Hizen starts. "Maybe. Depends on how you look at it."

"Wait, so... Kenta was acting differently?" Suzuki asks.

"Quite. That sounded like a severe case of a split personality disorder." Hizen says.

"Split p-personality?" Masamoto asks.

"It's kind of funny, really," Hizen chuckles, for whatever reason. "It's when you're so insane, you come up with another personality inside your brain. Sometimes, they take over, usually by a trigger of some sort, and then _that_ happens."

"When you're so...?" Toori says. "Christ, man, are you kidding?"

"Sorry?" Hizen asks.

"Do you find this funny or something?" Toori asks. "You- you can't just talk about _split personality disorder_ so... casually. Good thing Keiro didn't hear, he probably would've killed you or something!"

"T-Toori!" Saya says.

"Oh," Hizen scoffs. "If the damned psycho tried anything I would've been burying his _corpse_ before he'd lay a single _finger._"

"Woah, woah, hey!" Toori shouts. "W-What the hell, man!? What's wrong with you!?"

"Oh for fuck's sake..." Dakota facepalms.

"Oh, calm down-" Jokuno starts.

"Excuse me?" Hizen raises his voice. "And who do you think _you_ are? What are you again, Audio Expert? I bet you just sit on your goddamned computer all day-"

"No, I _don't!_" Toori cuts him off. "What the hell does it matter, anyway!?"

"QUIET!" Hizen shouts, intimidatingly. "I'm not wasting my time on you anymore."

Hizen then stomps out of the mess hall, muttering curses under his breath, leaving the rest of us standing in our circle.

"Ugh..." Erik sighs. "I don't think anything here could've went worse."

"Well, Hitaka apparently can't keep his mouth shut." Jokuno rolls his eyes. _'Wait, what?'_

"What? What did I do?" I ask.

"The only reason things with Sakuro went so badly is because you asked for Keiro," Jokuno says. "You should know when and when not to talk."

"I should!?" I reply, angry. "Why just me? What about- I don't know- Erik? He kept on asking for Keiro after me!"

"I wasn't trying to provoke him," Erik defends himself. "I was simply trying to defuse the situation."

"By doing the one thing that'd provoke him?" I ask.

"Hmph. Actually, Hitaka does have a point." Jokuno says. "Some _strategist_ you are."

"Shut _up,_" Erik growls. "I did nothing wrong, and we're getting nowhere by arguing like this!"

"W-Wait!" Masamoto says.

"You're all so damn idiotic!" Jokuno shouts, ignoring her. "I shouldn't have to be a part of this..."

"Wait! Please!" Masamoto says again.

"And why are you so special!?" Haru shouts. "None of us want to be here, _asshole!_ You've been acting nothing more than just rude to everyone since we got here!"

"_Wait!_" Masamoto raises her voice, and walks into the middle of the circle, finally catching everyone's attention, and shutting everyone up.

"M-Masamoto!" Aito says, apparently not having heard her, either.

"P-Please! We can't keep arguing!" Masamoto says. "This will get us nowhere!"

"_Thank_ you," Erik rolls his eyes.

"Well, it seems like some true colors have been shown," Jokuno glares at Haru.

"Oh _please!_" Haru says. "I'm not the only one here who hates your damn guts! Right!?"

"H-Haru! Jokuno!" Masamoto says. "Please, stop! E-Everyone just stop!"

"God... dammit..." Suddenly, a wave of tiredness comes over me. And, I begin to start feeling cold. _'Agh, right...'_ Of course, I start coughing and sneezing.

"A-Ah!" Dakota says, stepping away. "Don't do that right next to me!"

"O-Oh!" Placide suddenly says. "That's right! Y-You're probably sick, aren't you?"

"Ugh, no..." Haru shakes her head. "Hitaka, you're not gonna get everyone sick, are you?"

"I'll try not to," I say, a bit more ruder than I wanted.

"Look..." Toori says. "Let's all just go back, forget this ever happened, and call it a day. Okay?"

"Well, I hope it'll be that easy..." Asai agrees, and walks out of the mess hall.

"So do I." Jokuno says, following.

One by one, everyone eventually leaves. I stay in the mess hall, though, as my throat's burning, and I need something to drink. For once, I'm alone, thankfully, and I walk into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, I find some orange juice, and decide to have some. Filling up a glass, I take a sip.

_'Ah, that's better... probably should've been shouting so much.'_

I sigh, thinking about everything that just happened. First, there's Sakuro, someone who's obviously going to be a problem, especially considering the fact that he's got a shotgun. Then, there was whatever happened with Hizen, and everything just spiraled out of control. Chaos. Seemingly, there's barely any more teamwork going on. Nobody wants to work together. _'If everyone is so angry with each other, we'll all be gone within a week...'_

"Wow! That sure was exciting!" _'Fucking hell...'_

"Monokuma, just..." I sigh. "Go away."

"I think this might be my favorite batch so far!" Monokuma jumps onto the table, taking a seat. "Everyone's already in despair!"

"Fuck off!" I say, walking out of the kitchen, with my glass.

"Whaaa? Why? Why do you hate me so?" Monokuma follows me, because of course he would.

"I'd be here all day if I were to answer that," I grumble, as I leave the mess hall.

"Oh! I bet you're falling into despair too, aren't you, Hitaka!?" Monokuma says, excitedly. "You just don't want to admit it!"

This time, I stop. I turn around, to Monokuma.

"I don't want to play your fucking game," I snarl. "But if I have to, then listen: I'm not going to lose. I'm not letting you win. I will never fall into despair."

"Upupupupu..." Monokuma laughs. "They all say that. Everyone thinks they're so high and mighty, but when you really get down to it, no one is. You're all just lying to yourself, and I know, you're nothing but an insecure, sad, _brat._"

_'Wh... What?'_

"Stop putting up a show." Monokuma says. "I'm not buying it, and I'm sure no one else is either."

* * *

><p>...He's probably right.<p>

I didn't realize until I sat in bed for the next hour or so thinking about it, but dammit, I'm not so sure if I can really deny him.

I'm terrified. I want to go home. I don't want to be here anymore. I'm going to die, aren't I?

_'...'_

I don't want to lose. I don't want to die, I don't want to let Monokuma win. Someone once told me, you need to win all your battles. I don't think I've lost one yet. So should I keep my flawless record going?

It's gonna be hard. I still haven't gotten over the sudden loss of Kisaki, and Sumiyoshi. Especially since the _true_ killer is still out there, the one who put us here. Can I just let them go free? How would I deal with that? I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I want to know who put me here. Who put my friends here.

_'...Friends?'_

Hah. Can I really call them friends? After that scene in the mess hall, I'm not so sure. We all seemed like good friends a couple days ago, but, are we still? I'll need to think about that one.

_'Or... maybe not...'_

Everyone's getting desperate. I can tell. They want to leave. And, the more desperate they get, the more chance someone falls to Monokuma's game and kills. Then, we'll have another murder, another victim, another trial, another culprit, another _execution..._

_'There hasn't been another motive yet, but I won't be surprised if someone kills anyway...'_

I sigh, and stand up from my bed. It'd only been a few hours since I last took the medicine, so I didn't take anymore. The bottle said every six hours or so, I'm pretty sure. I decide I should leave for a bit, as I still had things to do.

I put on my jacket, and leave. It's still damn freezing. The snow hadn't stopped, though. Actually, it seemed heavier? Huh.

I walk into the building, and of all people, I see Aito standing in the halls. He seems nervous.

"Aito?" I say.

"H-Huh? O-Oh!" he turns to me, surprised. "Um. Hello."

"Hey, how're ya?" I ask.

"Um, fine..." he trails off, and sighs.

"Yeah... I can tell you're not fine." I walk up to him.

"I don't know..." he sighs, again. "E-Everything's getting to me. The mess hall earlier..."

"Ah, yeah," I put my hands in my pockets. "That was kinda rough."

He looks away. "A-And, um, S-Sakuro's still around."

_'Crap, that's right.'_

"Yeah... we're gonna need to deal with that eventually." I roll my eyes. "By the way, do you know what happened? I still have no clue."

"I don't know..." he admits. "I think everyone was in the mess hall, except for... you, Dakota, Kenta, and Suzuki."

"Kenta walked in eventually," Aito continues, "A-And, well, he was Sakuro at the time..."

"W-We stalled for time," Aito says, "W-Well, mostly Erik. And Jokuno. Then Dakota walked in, then you did, then Suzuki after..."

"So, wait," I say. "While the three of us were out, Kenta just walked in, and he was already Sakuro?"

"Yeah," Aito nods. "H-His hair wasn't in a ponytail anymore, and for some reason, h-his eyes changed..."

_'Huh...'_

"Is there anything else?" I ask.

"I don't think so," he shakes his head. "N-None of us know anything."

"Dammit..." I mutter. "So no way to get Keiro back."

"I-I don't know." he says. "I kind of feel bad for Sakuro though..."

"Eh? How?" I ask.

"Well, you heard him, right?" Aito looks downward. "H-He was saying that everyone only wants Keiro, and he never gets attention. M-Maybe that's all he wants?"

"Well..." I sigh. "We still need to do something. Who knows what he'll do, especially considering the fact that he has a _shotgun._"

"True..." Aito says. "Well, I think I'm gonna go, now. U-Um, bye!"

"Yeah, sure," I reply. "Seeya."

Aito leaves, and I'm left there in the hallway. I decide I should keep what he said in mind.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>New Evidence: Kenta SakuroKenta Keiro**_

_**Kenta Keiro apparently has some kind of split personality disorder, calling himself Kenta Sakuro. According to Hizen, these usually come out by some sort of trigger, although no one seems to know what Keiro's is. Aito says the only missing people from the mess hall were me, Dakota, Suzuki, and Kenta. Sakuro has a loaded shotgun, too.**_

* * *

><p><em>'Split personality disorder, huh...'<em>

Well, my clothes were still in the changing room. I figure I should go grab those, and put them to wash. I walk on over to the changing room, but before going in, stop. _'I should probably knock...'_

And so I do, but no response comes. Assuming no one's changing, I open the door. Sure enough, no one's there, and my dirty clothes still sit on the floor. Doesn't look like anyone came through here.

I go put my clothes in the washing machine, using the soaps available. While waiting for the clothes, I think of something I should probably do.

_'Should go grab the gun, now...'_

The building was empty. As far as I knew, anyway. I should be able to sneak it in my pocket without anyone knowing. I didn't really want to take it, but, with Sakuro around, I didn't feel safe. I need something.

I leave the laundry room, and go to the armory. Of course, it's still as it was before, with the missing shotgun.

_'Or... wait.'_

I start having second thoughts about that statement as I look to the wall with the handguns. Specifically, where the revolvers lay. And I couldn't help but notice a missing spot, just like with the shotguns.

_'Agh. That's probably bad...'_

I sigh, and take the M1911 I was eyeing the night before off the wall. It's just as it was before. The frame was a bright silver, with a white handle. I hold the weapon, and examine it a bit more. It has a kinda weird weight to it, it's definitely on the heavier side, but it still feels light. Like I could whip it around or something. But, it's obvious that it's a weapon, and even I could tell it was of high quality. And definitely something that could be used to hurt someone.

_'Well, a gun's useless without ammo.'_

I take a crate, and put it on the table. Inside were a ton of pistol rounds- 9mm, .45 ACP, .357 Magnum, the list goes on. _'What the hell kind of pistol shoots these .357s!? They're huge!'_

All these numbers and calibers and other things were hurting my head. I opened up random boxes, seeing the bullets inside, but there was no way I could tell which was for what. I rack my brain for what I could remember from video games and movies, to try and figure something out.

_'It's a pistol, right? The 9mm is, well, nine milimeters, so is that the right size...?'_

Inside the crates were empty magazines, I notice. Figuring that I probably need those, I grab one that follows the same color scheme as the pistol, and slap it in, and sure enough it fits. I pull the magazine back out, and try to fit a 9mm inside, but no luck.

The Magnum rounds would never work. From just holding the things I can tell it was way too huge. So that's off the list. I continued on, trying the .38 Special, the tiny .25 ACP, some weird Russian one called the Tokarev, until I came across the .45 ACP cartridge.

The .45 ACP fit in the magazine perfectly, so I assumed this was the one. It seemed right, anyway. The magazine fit seven rounds, and so I put seven rounds in, filling up the magazine. It felt wrong, honestly, carrying around a gun with a full magazine. Am I going to be as dangerous as Sakuro, now? Probably. Well, whatever, no one needs to know that I have it.

I stuff it in my pants pocket, making sure the safety is on, and it's able to be taken out quickly. I don't really know why I even loaded it, we'll be safe, right? _'It's just a precaution... I won't even need to pull it out.'_

_'Well... I guess now I've got the rest of the day ahead of me.'_

The time was now almost noon, and I haven't even eaten yet. Needless to say I was starving. Next thing on my list: food.

Seems like while I was in the armory some people came through. I seen the trio of Aito, Masamoto, and Placide sitting together again, and couldn't help but notice Masamoto seemed proud of herself, possibly since she defused the situation in the mess hall earlier? Aito still looked nervous, no doubt because of Sakuro. Placide appeared to mostly be smiling and nodding to everything.

Erik and Jokuno were both sitting alone, which seemed odd, considering the two had some kind of duo thing going on. Honestly, between the accusations at the trial, and today's argument, I sort of felt like their friendship, or whatever it was, was dwindling.

Haru, Asai, and Dakota were sitting at a round table. Dakota looked pissed, as expected, but still seemed to be enjoying herself. Haru, of course, was being loud as always. Her and Asai were in some kind of argument.

"...don't watch horror movies!?" Asai says, apparently in shock.

"N-No, I don't!" Haru replies, blushing in embarassment. "I just, uh, don't like them!"

"Whaaat!?" Asai says. "You probably just haven't seen any good ones. There was this one, uh, what was it called...?"

"Horror movies suck." Dakota scoffs, crossing her arms.

I decide to leave them to their quarrel, although I'm quite confused. Asai starts shouting again, and I start hearing something about chainsaws and blood before I tune out of their conversation. I see Toori, Saya, and Suzuki sitting at a long table by themselves, talking about something. The only people missing from the mess hall were Sakuro, and Hizen, I notice. _'That's not true... we're still missing two more...'_

"Yo! Hitaka!" Toori calls me over, and I go join them.

"Hey, Suzuki was just tellin' us about your plan," Toori says, smiling. "It's a good idea. We should do it."

"Plan? What plan?" I ask.

"The funeral," Saya says.

_'Right, the funeral...'_

"We can hold it tonight," Suzuki says. "While they're still fresh in memory."

"Still fresh?" I ask.

"It's sad..." Suzuki looks down. "They say after losing someone for so long, you begin to forget what they were like. Their personality, their looks..."

"Yeah... that's true." Toori nods. "Though I don't think I'll ever forget them."

"We can't." I say. "Even if we wanted to, I'm sure we can't forget seeing what happened to them..."

Saya nods. "It's probably a good idea to have it tonight."

"Well, there's still a problem, though," Toori says.

"What?" Suzuki asks.

"Sakuro." Toori replies.

"Right..." I sigh. "Where is he, anyway?"

"Haven't seen him since he ran off earlier," Toori says, and I see a look of anger flash on his face. Most likely due to Hizen.

"We should really do something about him," Saya says. "What if he does something? He could do something tonight, at the funeral..."

"That'd definitely be a pretty crappy funeral." Toori adds.

"Then what should we do?" Suzuki asks.

"Tie 'im up?" Toori suggests.

"And how would we manage to tie _him_ up?" Saya asks.

"Uh, I dunno..." Toori says, thinking. "Alright, me and Hitaka'll hold him back, and you two tie him up!"

"Er... with what?" I ask.

"A... rope?" Toori replies. "Huh. I hadn't thought of that..."

"You usually need those for typing people up." Saya sighs.

"We could look in the storage building," Suzuki says, thoughtfully. "There could be a rope in there."

"Well, wait," Toori scratches his head. "I wasn't really serious, I'm not sure if _actually_ tying him up is a good idea."

"Still need to do something, though," I frown at the lack of options.

"We could make him go back to Keiro...?" Saya wonders.

"Hizen said each personality comes out by a trigger..." Suzuki says, to which Toori rolls his eyes, "Yeah, if we figure out Keiro's, then he'll be able to attend the funeral as well."

"Anyone got any ideas?" I ask.

"You guys notice how his hair was all weird?" Toori says. "His ponytail's gone, and his hair's covering his other eye now."

"I noticed that too..." Suzuki nods.

"Suppose Sakuro styles his hair differently?" I joke.

"Well... I dunno, you think it has something to do with that?" Toori asks.

"Wouldn't it be something more serious than a hairstyle?" I ask, raising a brow.

"No, I think it might be possible," Suzuki says, putting a finger to her chin. "Triggers can be anything, I'm pretty sure."

"Is... that our only lead?" Saya asks, unsure.

"Mm..." Toori thinks. "There's gotta be something else."

"Maybe we should try that though," Suzuki wonders. "If we get his hair back to Keiro's, maybe he'll change...?"

"That doesn't make any sense." I sigh. "I feel like it's not that easy..."

"Any suggestions, then?" Toori asks.

I started thinking about something we can do, to figure out what to do about Sakuro. If we attempt to have the funeral tonight, he'll find out, and it could be bad. _'Or... could it...?'_

"Should we really be pushing Sakuro away?" Saya suddenly asks. "What if we just... invite him?"

"After that scene in the mess hall." Toori stares at Saya.

"Well, actually..." I say. "If we don't invite him, he'll get pissed. But if we do?"

"Ohh..." Suzuki says, understanding. "If we invite him to the funeral, maybe he won't do anything?"

"Think about it," Saya says, "I think he just wants attention. Why don't we give him some?"

"Guys," Toori says, "He's got a _shotgun._ And, no offense but, he doesn't, uh, seem in his right mind. Do we really want that around?"

"It's better than getting him angry," I say.

Toori looks away, considering it. I can tell he's not so sure if it's a good idea. Hell, I'm pretty sure it's not, but it's the best we've got right now.

"...Alright," Toori nods. "S'long as we make sure he doesn't freak out, then I guess it's cool. Besides, if we got our eyes on him, he can't do anything, right?"

"Exactly," I smile. "Somebody'll see him, we'll all be together."

"So then it's decided?" Saya asks.

"Well... not really..." Suzuki says, frowning. She then turns around, to the rest of the people in the mess hall. _'Oh, yeah.'_

"Should probably let everyone know," Toori says. "Hey! Yo, guys! Hellooo!?"

Toori starts shouting, standing up on the bench. A few heads turn, a few forks drop, until eventually everyone's eyes are this way.

"The fuck are you doing?" Dakota asks.

"What is it, Toori?" Erik asks, sighing.

"Yeah, why are you interrupting us for!?" Haru asks.

"Okay, listen up!" he says. "So, we came up with an idea!"

"And it is...?" Jokuno asks.

"We want to hold a funeral," Toori explains. "For Kisaki and Sumiyoshi. They... they actually _died,_ and we should take a moment to remember them, don't you think?"

The crowd in the mess hall talked with one another about the idea. Thankfully, I could mostly hear murmurs of agreement.

"Yeah," Asai says, "I think that's a good idea!"

"O-Okay!" Masamoto smiled.

"I don't see why not..." Aito nodded.

Erik actually looked away for a moment. I noticed him muttering something to himself, for whatever reason. "...Fine." he simply says.

"And what do we do about Sakuro?" Jokuno asked. "I'm all for the idea, really, but we have bigger problems."

"We're gonna invite him," Suzuki says, like it's no big deal.

Jokuno didn't even say anything. He just facepalmed.

"Yeah," Aito nodded, smiling.

"U-Um..." Placide says. "I-Is that such a good idea...? Wh-what if he t-tries to shoot us or something? O-Oh no, I hope I don't..." Placide started mumbling to herself.

"Honestly? It's better than the alternatives," I say. "We can just not invite him, which we know will anger him further. Or, we _can_ invite him, give him the attention he wants, and we should be fine. Maybe."

"Why does he need to come?" Jokuno raised a brow. "Can we not keep him in his room? Or try to get him back to Keiro?"

"Both of those are probably impossible," I reply. "We could tie him up, but he'll only get even more mad-"

"But he'd be tied up," Jokuno cut me off. "Meaning he wouldn't be able to do anything."

"_And,_" I continue, "We don't know how to get him back to Keiro yet. And, besides... maybe we should actually try to get him on our good side?"

"What good would _that_ do?" Jokuno asks. "I'm sorry to say it- I am- but he's insane. If he comes to this funeral, I can almost guarantee it won't end well."

"Wait..." Aito intervenes, "A-Are you sure?"

"...Sorry?" Jokuno asks.

"I think all he wants is friends..." Aito says, thoughtfully. "W-Who are we to deny him that?"

"I get what you're trying to say," Erik says, "And you're right. I'd rather have another ally than an enemy. But what we need to understand is, is that some enemies are not open to negotiations. We let him get close to us, he takes us out when we're not looking."

"We don't know that..." Aito looks away. "W-We don't know that! We should at least _try!_"

"Aito..." Masamoto attempts to calm him down, saying something to him.

"We take his gun," Dakota says. "Tell 'im this: give us your shotgun, and you can come. Or you can just fuck off."

"Hrm..." Erik nods, thinking.

"I think that's the only way to do this," Suzuki says. "Are we in agreement? Or are we not?"

Honestly, to my surprise, lots of people actually said yes. A few were hesitant, but everyone eventually agreed to it. We're gonna invite Sakuro.

"...If I can't make you people do the thing that actually makes more sense," Jokuno sighs, "Then fine. Go ahead."

"Alright!" I think about how we're going to do this. "Okay... I'll go find Sakuro, and invite him."

"And take his gun." Dakota deadpanned.

"Yes, and take his gun." I roll my eyes.

"You sure you're up for it?" Erik asks. "He's insane and armed. You realize you could either get hurt or _die_ or you do this."

"Oh, it'll be fine," I say, and I start walking out. "Okay. I'll go get Sakuro. Be back in five."

_'This better work.'_

* * *

><p>"Tch... of course."<p>

"I'm surprised. I didn't think they'd actually do that."

"It's good though! If they were to just leave him, I'm sure he'd be mad..."

"But, now, everyone going to be together, with a madman with a shotgun. This could end badly."

"They have a point though. There's no other way."

"...Hey, guys?"

"H-Huh!? What are you doing here!? You need to go-"

"N-No. It's... it's... him..."

"Him...? Who?"

"...He's waking up."

"Woah, wait!"

"Wait. You mean _him?_ The last...?"

"No d- _agh!_ N-No doubt..."

"_Dammit..._ hold on. This is Kirigiri Kyoko, I need an armed team down to the Pod Room, now! Kamakura Izuru is waking up, I repeat, Kamakura Izuru is waking up!"

* * *

><p><strong>IT'S ALIIIIIVE<strong>

**OKAY I'm sorry yes it's been like three weeks this was supposed to be out like two weeks ago but that never happened. Busy and shit. When I say busy I mean busy RPing. Cuz that's a thing I'm doing. Started RPing. Yeah. Alsootherirlstuffbutwhocaresaboutthat**

**So this chapter was interesting. Got an insane person running around with a shotgun. Said insane person is going to be at a funeral. Also, I didn't make the chapter last the entire day! If I did that no joke this would be 20k+ words(this one alone was 8,129). Hopefully, the next chapter, should it be uploaded sometime this year(psh if I start it at all), should be the funeral, and some other stuff. Lots of stuff. Anyway, replies to reviews!**

**Veltrops: Thanks! I'll have to figure out how to make the trials better, yeah. Don't be surprised if I get bored and make the next murder weapon a missile launcher.**

**Susurruses: I've got a lot planned for that :D Just you wait. Also, sorry about the undertaker, he's currently in asshole mode.**

**Myshiroyuki: Thanks! Will do.**

**Hero of the Dark: I figured having things around the kitchen being the murder weapon every time would get boring. :P Thanks!**

**TheRoseShadow21: It's hard picking certain people :P I still want to write a chapter that's literally just FTEs for six hours straight with everybody**

**Shadowplayer360: Hah, if I made it any _more_ violent I'd have to make this M rated :P I was gonna make it at least a bit more detailed, but figured the fact that a baby is involved was kinda... enough.**

**LadyGlitchy: I suppose Kenta got his spotlight? ;)**

**pikachushinx: Well, it might not have been an FTE, but at least he's got a shotgun now.**

**Unify: Yeah, seems the arrows don't work. Which sucks. Thanks for the review! :D**

**mrean22: Thanks man :D**

**SHSL Slacker: I'LL DO IT I SWEAR(ALSO MAYBE I SHOULDN'T BE ONE TO TALK BUT YOU SHOULD UPDATE YOUR DR FICS)**

**WELP I guess that's it. Gonna go now. Hey, I think I didn't forget anything this time! Woo.**


	9. Chapter 2 Part 3: Shunned

**[A/N: No need for alarm.]**

* * *

><p>A young man walks urgently through the hallways of the building. It's a modern building, with bright lights, quite the contrast to the streets outside. The man wears a buttoned black suit and tie, with an earpiece in his ear. He certainly looked official.<p>

"Kyoko, status report." he says, putting a finger on the earpiece.

_"Krrrrsch- Ma- get- down he- TATATATATATAT- krrrsch..."_

Instead of getting a response, he got a reply filled with static, and gunfire. _'What...? Kyoko?'_

"Kyoko?" he asks, now moving faster, to the elevators. "Kyoko! Do you copy!?"

_"Watch out, Makoto."_

_'That's not Kyoko's voice.'_

The man enters the elevator, as a chill goes down his spine. For a moment, he couldn't respond. Four people stand in the elevator, all wearing black suits.

On their heads, are black-and-white masks of despair's one and only mascot.

One of them immediately put a bag over the man's head, tying it, making breathing quite the hard task. Only seconds later, unconsciousness falls upon him. He falls forward, before the masked men catch him, propping him up against the wall.

"Upupupu."

The elevator doors close.

* * *

><p>With a swift push, I leave the building. Cold. It's cold. I'm getting used to it, though. Or... am I just numb? <em>'I feel numb... it's too cold... or am I just getting more sick?'<em>

As if in response to my own thoughts, I sneeze. Nice. I sigh, and look around, searching for Sakuro. _'All I need to do is take away his gun, ask him nicely to come to the funeral, and everything will be fine. Simple.'_

I walk through the barracks, knocking on Sakuro's... er, Kenta's... _their_ door, but got no response. I call out for him, cupping my hands around my mouth. And, well, that time I got a response. Sure, it might've been a goddamn shotgun blast, but...

I run over to where I hear the shotgun. I start hearing cheering, too, coming from behind the main building. _'What the hell is he doing?'_ I get around the corner, and sure enough, there stands Sakuro. ...He's shooting in the air.

"Gah! Sakuro, what're you doing!?" I shout, putting my hands over my ears, as he shoots again. _'Second shot...'_

He turns, confused. He sees me, and for some reason his response to pump his shotgun, and aim it at me. _'Ooooh. That's... that's not good.'_

"Wh- what're you doing!?" he shouts, "How'd you find me!?"

"Y-You're shooting a _shotgun,_ how could I not!?" I ask, putting my hands in the air. "O-Okay, bud, l-let's talk this out, eh?"

"...What do you want?" he asks, hesitantly. He grits his teeth, but oddly enough, _he_ looks nervous. _'Why are you nervous!? You're the one with the gun!'_

"A-Alright. Bud. Bud. Put down the gun." I say, as I slowly lower my right hand. "I just wanna talk, y'know?"

He notices me lower my hand. He raises the shotgun. "H-Hey! Hands up! And... talk about what?" _'Dammit...'_

I obey. I raise my hand again, muttering curses. "S-Sorry. Um... we're gonna have this funeral tonight. For Sumiyoshi and Kisaki. Y-You up for it?"

_'...I need to get my gun...'_

Sakuro's hands only tighten further. He looks confused, but his expression goes back to anger. "Who're they?"

"...You don't remember?" I ask. "The two that died?"

"Died...?" Sakuro asks, tilting his head in confusion. He mutters something under his breath, and I barely make out the words _"didn't tell me about that"_.

_'What the hell...?'_

"Uh huh." I say. "Sumiyoshi, she... killed Kisaki." My eyes dart from Sakuro to the shotgun. The loaded, cocked, shotgun. That's in the hands of someone insane. Of whom is totally okay with shooting it. _'Holy shit. This isn't how I die, is it? No... sh-shit.'_

"Why...?" he asks. He's going a bit silent. _'I-I can't let this go on...'_

"Th-that's why we're here." I reply, swallowing. "We've been kidnapped. We're supposed to be killing each other, so we can escape. We found out Sumiyoshi did it, so, sh-she... got killed."

I swallow again, looking down to the shotgun. Sakuro gives me this confused, hell, almost _betrayed_ look. He looks from side to side. I look at him, noticing the fact that he got a change of clothes. He now wore light blue jeans, with a long, white lab coat, over a black tank top. Somehow, he managed to get the coat stained with paint, as well as his white pair of shoes. _'He even changed his clothes... it's like I'm not even talking to the same person anymore...'_

Sakuro glares at me. "Why should I listen to you!? How do I know you're not lying to me?" he asks, raising his voice. His hands are shaking, as he raises the shotgun again. _'Shit. Shit! Calm him down!'_

"W-Woah! Come on man, what're you doing!?" I shout, nervously. _'That's not gonna help, dumbass!'_

"Why shouldn't I kill you now!?" he asks, trembling. I notice he's hesitating again, and actually lowers the shotgun slightly.

"Because you'll be found," I say, slightly lowering my right hand, again. "You'll be found, and you'll be executed, okay?"

"Executed? By who!? What's going on here!?" he asks, shaking a bit. _'Okay! It's now or never!'_

I quickly put my hand in my pocket, and draw out the M1911, pointing it at Sakuro. I put my right finger on the trigger, and my left hand under the handle, as if drawing a handgun like so was second nature. _'Wh- okay, whatever.'_

"Drop it," I growl. "Drop it, drop it now! Kick it over!"

"H-Huh?" he asks, freezing. He looks at the gun I'm holding, and then to me. His hands start trembling, but, as if he were a robot, he follows my command within seconds, dropping the weapon. He kicks it over to me.

_'That was rather easy...'_

"...Why did you...?" he asks, silently. "O-Oh. I made you do that, didn't I?"

"...Yes, you did." I reply. Keeping one hand on the pistol, I lean down, and pick up the shotgun, backing up and putting it down. I walk closer, with the pistol aimed on his head.

_'...my god. Now I'm holding the loaded gun. And that's a real, breathing, person's head in my sights. All I need to do is pull this little trigger, and he's dead. That's... quite some power I have... this guy's life is currently in my hands...'_

"I'm sorry." he suddenly apologizes, before sighing. "You hate me now, don't you?"

"...I admit, I don't _like_ you." I respond.

"Oh..." he says, sadly. "Why? Why do people always...?"

"Always what?" I ask.

"Everybody... everybody hates me." he mutters. "Everybody only likes Keiro..."

"...bud, you just threatened me with a shotgun..." I raise a brow. I decide to keep aiming the gun. _'Is he trying to guilt trip me...?'_

"Well, I know you hate me!" he says, "I... I thought..."

"Look, this isn't gonna work," I sigh. "Funeral. Y'coming?"

"...Does everyone hate me? Are they afraid?" Sakuro asks. He asks with pure sincerity, making me wonder if he was only trying to make me feel guilty.

"A few are, yeah." I say, nodding. "But trust me, everyone wants you there!"

"How? Why?" he asks. "Nobody _wants_ me anywhere!"

"Well, what were you going to do if we didn't invite you?" I ask. "We didn't want you to get mad. We'd rather everyone be there, anyway."

Sakuro looks away. A smile appears on his face, as tears begin to fill his eyes. "...Yeah. Sure, I'll come. Thanks... what's your name again?"

"Hitaka. Hitaka Yuushi." I introduce. I sigh, and finally put the handgun back in my pocket, figuring the situation has been defused.

"Nice to meet you, Hitaka," he says, a grin on his face, "Haha! Hey, I'll see you at the funeral!" Sakuro begins to walk away.

"Yeah. Seeya." I say, nodding. I'm about to turn around, but... I hear... sobbing? I quickly turn around, wondering who's there, and...

"Waaaah!" Monokuma stands, bawling his eyes out. "I-It's so sad... a split personality, shunned by society... just because he's _different!_"

_'The bear's right... it is sort of sad.'_

"What do you want, Mono?" I ask, coming up with a nickname for the bear.

"Wh- Mono!?" he complains, "Only I can give people nicknames! Hi... Hin... ata! Hinata!" _'Hinata? Was there not a better name he could've made from Hitaka?'_

"I want you to pass something on!" he continues. "Gym! Tonight! Ten o'clock! Got it!?"

"Huh?" I ask, puzzled. "Another gym meeting...?" I ask, memories going back to the last time we met in the gym.

_'...Takeo...'_

"Yeppers!" Monokuma confirms. "Hope y'all got over... uh, Yoshi, and Yuki!" he seemed to be having a bit of a hard time coming up with nicknames. Anyways, the bear then disappears, running off to god knows where.

_'Gym meeting... is it another motive...? I don't know if I can do another one! But... if Monokuma has something on us we need to know, like our families... then I need to be there... where even are our families?'_

I sigh. I look at the clock on my ElectroID, and it reads 12:14PM. Time for lunch...

* * *

><p>The cell is quiet. The entire hallway is quiet. There are a few weak, quiet, sobs, but otherwise, no noise is made in the hall.<p>

The teen weakly turns his head to the corner of the room, where the source of quite a stench lay. Both his mother and father lay, sitting next to each other. Their previous poses weren't favorable, the teen had to do something about it.

They'd been sleeping for a while. A really long while. But it's not like anything's wrong with them, or anything. They're still breathing, right? Their hearts are still beating? Of course. Yeah. Of course.

There's a shard of bloodied glass in the room. Remains of the torture he had to experience. Letting out a weak breath, he grabs it, arm trembling. He looks into it, seeing his reflection. Over his right eye, there were a ton of white bandages, wrapping around his head. His dark brown hair had been getting longer, covering some of the bandages. He pushes back some of the bangs, sweeping it all to the right.

He drops the shard, and looks back up. With his one working eye, he watches the TV.

_'...please don't die, Yuushi... I'll be there soon...'_

* * *

><p>I sigh, sitting in the hallway. I take a bite out of the sandwich Masamoto made me, as she sits down next to me.<p>

"S-So, um... how are you doing, Aito...?" she asks me, giving me a warm smile.

"I'm okay, I guess," I reply. I couldn't help but give a smile of my own. "A-And... you?"

"Fine..." she whispers. She bites out of her own sandwich. It's silent for a moment, as the two of us simply sit in the hallway, and I try to think of something to talk about. _'Heh... I actually made a decent friend, here...'_

"Um, thanks for the sandwich." I blurt, trying to get a topic up.

"H-Huh?" she asks, surprised. _'Ah! Was I not supposed to say that?'_ "Oh... hehe, y-you're welcome..." she says, blushing. _'Oh... I think I embarassed her...'_

"U-Uh. Sorry." I say, looking away, blushing myself.

"Huh? Wh-Why? D-Did I do something!?" she asks. _'W-Wait, no, you didn't...'_

"Huh? No! I, uh, I thought... erm... y-y'know what, nevermind." I say, quickly taking a bite of the sandwich. It's quiet again. _'I think I made it awkward...'_

Hitaka suddenly walks by us. He looks a bit shaken up. He sees us, and talks to us. "Oh, hey guys."

"Hi." I greet, smiling.

"H-Hello." Masamoto does the same, although I noticed her glance at me first for some reason.

"You guys remember that... motive, Monokuma gave us a little while ago?" he asks, hesitantly.

"O-Oh." I say, memories quickly rising. _'Huyu...'_ "Yeah..."

"Yes." Masamoto says, frowning.

"There's another one tonight..." he mutters. "Ten o'clock. You probably need to be there... lock your doors, tonight."

"H-Huh!?" I gasp. "Another motive?"

"Yeah..." he says, sighing. "Also, I got Sakuro on board for the funeral. He's not that bad, really."

"Oh... that's good..." I nod.

Masamoto does the same, nodding.

"That's about it..." Hitaka says, "Hang in there."

Hitaka then leaves, walking into the mess hall. _'Well... another motive...'_

"I wonder what it'll be..." Masamoto says. She leans closer to me.

"We'll be fine..." I say to her, leaning close as well. "U-Um... I'll make sure you're... fine." _'Th-that could've been worded better.'_ I feel my face becoming warm.

"O-Oh... really...?" Masamoto asks, a faint smile appearing on her face. "Thanks..."

"...Of course..."

* * *

><p>"Okay. So, there's this one- 'Bloody Chainsaw of Pain'. You <em>must've<em> at least heard of it." Asai says, to Haru. The three of us sit at a table, eating together, again. Why do I even bother with these guys?

"No." Haru replies, pouting.

"What the fuck is that?" I ask, raising a brow. Sounds fuckin' stupid.

"Wait, _what!?_" Asai says, shocked. "Neither of you!?"

"Is that even a real movie?" I ask.

"Can't be!" Haru says, "That sounds... stupid." See, soccer girl gets it.

"Of course it is!" Asai shouts. "It's awesome! It's _filled_ with blood, death, chainsaws, pain- oh, well, you probably know those last parts already."

"Death?" I ask.

"Yeah!" Asai says, raising a fist. "_Filled_ with gore!"

_'Uhhh. No thanks.'_

"Right..." I say, looking away.

"Why do you even like those movies...?" Haru asks, she seems bothered by the topic.

"You sound scared." I say, deciding to poke fun at her.

"H-Huh!?" Haru says, "No! I'm _not!_ Why would I be scared!?" Oh, good, now she sounds offended.

"Ooh... are you scared of fuckin' horror movies!?" I ask, grinning.

"Ohohoh..." Asai says, chuckling.

"_No!_" she shouts, blushing. "I-I... I'm done eating!" she says, getting up and leaving. I couldn't help but belt out into laughter.

"Aw, she left..." Asai frowns, watching Haru leave the mess hall.

"Hahah!" I laugh, "Ohh. That was priceless."

"...Y'know, you're rude a lot, Dakota," Asai says, rolling her eyes. She's smiling, though.

"Haha. S'in my nature, I guess..." I smile.

* * *

><p>"...and, that's when I came here."<p>

I sit on the counter, eating out of a bowl of some MRE. I just finished recapping everything I just did.

"So Monokuma came _crying?_" Saya says, laughing lightly.

"I dunno why a _robot_ is crying, but, yeah," I say, chuckling.

"Hah, wow... so where's his shotgun?" Toori asks me.

"I dropped it off back in my room," I reply, "This way, he can't get to it. But we gotta make sure Sakuro doesn't take _another_ gun."

"It's in _your_ room?" Saya asks, "Hitaka, you better not get framed for anything again..."

I sigh. "Y'know, I still wonder why Sumiyoshi framed me of all people."

"You saw her at the mess hall, didn't you?" Toori asks. "Sounds like it was a case of the wrong place at the wrong time..."

"Guess so." I agree, taking a sip of my bottled soda.

The kitchen is quiet. Toori and Saya are finishing up their lunch, just as I'm done with mine. I twirl the bottle around in my hands, making sure not to spill any.

"Should get the funeral up and going soon," Toori says, "It's already, what... 12:40 right now?" he pulls out his ElectroID, quickly.

"We still got time," Saya says, "So... how are we gonna do this, anyway?"

"I have an idea."

Suzuki suddenly walks into the room.

"Well, let's hear it."

* * *

><p>"Another motive." I state, crossing my arms, watching Hitaka go into the kitchen.<p>

"Should be interesting." Jokuno says.

"Last time it brought someone to kill. How can it be _interesting?_" I ask.

"Exactly." he says, chuckling. "But, we need to make sure it doesn't happen again..."

"Yeah. I know." I say, nodding. "We risk all of our lives going to the trial- should someone kill."

"We're _always_ risking our lives, Erik." Jokuno says, leaning forward onto the table. "Monokuma could kill us at any moment."

"And _that's_ why we need to get out of here as soon as we can." I reply, looking him in the eye, leaning back into my chair.

"You have any ideas?" he asks.

"Personally, I'd like to take down those fences, get to the runways, fly the hell out of here, but..." I sigh. "It's probably not that easy."

"The only option for now is to keep playing this game." Jokuno says, with confidence. "We have no leads on Monokuma, no leads on an escape, nothing. We need to wait for an opportunity."

"And for how long?" I ask. "How long must we wait? How many more must die? We have no leads because we haven't _made_ one yet."

"How, Erik?" he asks, "How are we supposed to do that?"

"Dammit, I..." I sigh, again. "I don't know. All I know is if we stay like this, not doing anything, we will suffer more fatalities, and I'm not sure if I can allow that."

"Soon." Jokuno says, looking me in the eye. "Soon. We'll get out of here- I can feel it."

I nod. "Then I look forward to fighting with you, soldier." I offer a hand.

"Soldier?" Jokuno rolls his eyes. "Is that what we are, now? Funny..." he laughs to himself, but takes my hand, giving it a firm shake.

"Let's get out of here."

* * *

><p><em>'Idiots.'<em>

I scoff, watching Hitaka, Suzuki, Toori, and Yamashita leave the building. They're talking about some sort of funeral. Why? Why should they mourn the dead if only _more_ will die?

Hitaka looks around. And of course, his eyes fall on me. Toori looks my way, but immediately looks away. The four of them walk in my direction.

"...Do you need something?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"Ah, uh, hey Hizen," Hitaka greets. "Where've you been?"

"Away from him." I snarl, glaring at Toori.

"Hey, man, I didn't do anything," Toori says, glaring right back at me. "Was all you."

"You're the one that thought it was a smart idea to start shit," I growl.

"Hey, guys..." Hitaka says, trying to calm us down.

"I... whatever." Toori says, shaking his head. "Uh, hey. I don't want us to hate each other, okay? We all need to be on the same side here."

"Why should I work with you?" I ask. "I'm perfectly content with being on my own."

"That's fine," Toori says, "Just... let's not kill each other."

"Tch. Watch your ass." I reply, as I leave the group. I walk into my room, making sure to slam the door behind me.

_'I don't need to work with you...'_

* * *

><p>I stand at the entrance of the building, watching Hitaka, Toori, Suzuki, and Saya talk to Hizen through the doors. I can't hear what's happening, but Hizen must have gotten mad, since he stomped away.<p>

I sigh, turning around, to look at Aito and Masamoto talk in the hall. They've been talking for a while now... they must really like each other...

_'It isn't her Aito should be talking to...'_

I look down, sighing loudly. I'm about to leave the building, but, Aito called out to me.

"Huh? Placide?" he says. "O-Oh! Hey!"

_'A-Aito?'_

I turn back to them, and Aito's motioning me over. Masamoto is too, she's smiling.

_'They... want me to come...? No, I-I must've done something! Th-they don't want me here!'_

Instead of going over to them, I end up leaving anyway, blushing. I run through the cold, quickly going into my room, shutting the door behind me.

_'...hehe...'_

* * *

><p>"Surprised. Lot of stuff, here..." I say, as we look through the storage building, preparing for the funeral.<p>

"It is surprising, isn't it?" Suzuki replies, looking through a box of something. "It's definitely odd that Monokuma would give us all this..."

"Look at all these clothes," Toori says, pulling out a camo jacket. "What's with all the camouflage clothes? Is this really a military base...?"

"I don't know," Saya says, leaning against a shelf, holding some items. "But... I guess it is."

"It's odd..." I say, adjusting the flashlight I found, sitting between my teeth. "It's as if Monokuma wants us to live here or something."

"Aside from the... _death,_ and all, it's... really not that bad here, y'know?" Toori says, "We have everything we need to live... a roof over our head, food on the table... not only that, if this never happened, we probably wouldn't have met each other."

"Might've been for the best, though..." I sigh. "Tension is really high... I'm not entirely sure if everyone really likes each other. Everyone's at each others' throats."

"That's definitely true..." Toori says, trailing off. _'Hizen...'_

"You should try and fix things with him," I frown, "It's not gonna be good if you two hate each other..."

"Huh? Oh..." he replies, getting what I'm trying to say. "I know, I know. But Hizen hates my guts, now. So I dunno what to do..."

"Ignore him, then," Suzuki says, "Just stay away. Don't need him around."

"It's not that easy," Toori sighs, "I don't want to avoid him... I just don't know how to be _friends_ with him..."

"Maybe you don't need to," Suzuki replies, "We can't all expect to be friends with each other. There's, what, fourteen of us? We won't be able to all band together like some sort of team. That only happens in the movies."

"That is true..." Saya says, frowning. "We all have our differences, I guess..."

"Guess so." I say, "What do we do, then...? Do we let everyone just... _hate_ each other? If we do that, we'll have another death... I can't lose another of you guys..."

"No one'll die," Saya says, "Um... hopefully. I don't think anyone will... y'know..."

"Isn't there a motive tonight?" Toori asks.

"Yup." I confirm.

"Damn it." Toori says. "Last time it worked pretty well... and it actually caused someone to kill. We aren't going to wake up to another _murder_ again, right?"

"...I hope not. I really do." I say, solemnly.

"We should get back to work..." Suzuki says. "Let's bring all this stuff outside."

_'Right... the funeral.'_

"Yeah, let's go." I nod.

* * *

><p>"Upupupu..."<p>

The captured teen suddenly awakes to a voice. _'...he's coming, again...'_

"No," a voice from down the hall whimpers.

"Hey, it'll be okay," someone says, hoarsely. Despite his own wounds, he still sounds strong. "Hang in there!"

Footsteps echo through the hall. A man in a half-black and half-white suit and tie walks through. He has a ski mask over his face, painted with the same colors as his suit. The black side has an evil grin and red eye, whilst the white has a black eye, and a simple smile. The mask looks a lot like a bear...

"Well, well, well!" he says, speaking through a childish voice changer. "You bastards are still alive?"

"Yes," the strong voice replies, "We aren't dying to you..."

The teen looks over to his parents.

_'...They did, didn't they...? They've... they've gotta be...'_

"Upupu..." the suited man says, walking over to his cell. He reaches into his suit, pulling out a silver-plated revolver. "You still hope... don't you?"

"That's gotta change." he continues. And, with no hesitation...

_**BANG.**_

"_Aaaaagh!_" a scream comes out from the cell, followed by screams of terror.

"N-No..." the teen says.

"No!" another screams.

The younger kids in the hall begin to scream.

"As for the rest of you..." the childish voice says, putting his gun back, "You're getting medical attention soon. We can't have you die on us, y'know? Y'all better be able to walk, because we aren't carrying you bastards! Nyahahaha... c'mon."

He walks out of the hallway, not looking back. Suddenly, the doors to each cell _open._

_'...The doors are open...'_

_'...can we leave...?'_

The teen takes a shaky deep breath, leaning up against the wall.

"_Aaaaagh... aaaaarggh!_" the pained screams continue.

_'What about him...?'_

_'...'_

_'He can't suffer...'_

_'...but... I can't save him...'_

Slowly, he stands up, hurt. He collapses against the cell, grabbing the bars to support him. He takes another shaky breath, trying to stand on two feet, wobbling.

_'...I've gotta go...'_

With blurred vision, something that was definitely common at this point, and nausea building up in his stomach, the teen leaves his cell.

* * *

><p><strong>OKAY I'M ALIVE YES HELLO<strong>

**THIS TOOK WAY TOO LONG GOD SORRY I AM TOO LAZY**

**aslkdfh it's 1:30am I'd make this longer but i'm friggin tired ok replies to reviews:**

** Veltrops: HAHA I LIKE TORTURING CHARACTERS I DON'T THINK THEY'LL EVER HAVE IT TOGETHER**

** Makoto Naegi: I ALMOST ACTUALLY MADE THEM TIE HIM UP BUT THAT'D BE RUDE**

** Hero of the Dark: Well, we know where two are, but there's one more missing... MYSTERY**

** Susurruses: HE'S PROBABLY GOING TO TERRORIZE EVERYONE WITH HIS SHOTGUN**

** Unify: aksljdfh idk I like using actual characters in my fics I'M PROBABLY GOING TO FUCK IT UP MISERABLY THO**

** SHSL Slacker: I NEED MORE OF THE FANTASY ONE. PLS**

** FirelightKnight: SHOULD I CURSE MORE THEN. PERHAPS I SHOULD PUT MORE GODDAMN FUCKING CURSES**

** LadyGlitchy: SAKURO IS BEST TBH**

** LightBlueRoses: PROBABLY. TO ALL OF THAT. I DUNNO. (I DO KNOW BUT UR NOT ALLOWED TO KNOW YET)**

**KAY THAT'S IT. THANKS FOR READING. I'M GONNA GO DISAPPEAR FOR A MONTH AGAIN SEEYA**


	10. Chapter 2 Part 4: Remembered

_**[A/N:  
><strong>_

_**PREVIOUSLY, ON AMC'S THE WALKING-**_

_**wait, no**_

_**PREVIOUSLY, ON CODER'S OLD ASS FANFIC THAT SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN UPDATED**_

_**Monokuma gave out the classic family motive. Original, huh? It prompted Sumiyoshi Mizuki, the SHSL Fashion Designer, to murder Yukijin Kisaki, the SHSL Utaite in what was a terribly written and designed murder on my part. A badly formatted and in general badly written trial took place directly after, to which Sumiyoshi got executed in a pretty controversial way, which I may change if I remember/care to do so. The students decided that a funeral in their honor should be held. I decided that I had to write out the planning of the funeral, and the building of the platform, which intimidated me into not writing for a year and a half. Why I didn't think of just starting with the funeral, I don't know. That's about it, go read now.]**_

* * *

><p>"We're here because we've just lost two of our own."<p>

Gently, pure white snowflakes descended from the evening sky above. A full moon hangs over us, accompanying a blanket of stars decorating the darkness. Spotlights had turned on, illuminating the outside with their bright blue lights. Chilly wind blows with a howl not unlike whispers.

"Admittedly, we never _really_ got to know them, but…"

A sea of depressed faces stand before me. Their eyes are all directed in different directions. Some towards my own, making eye contact. Others towards the ground, the gravel road with clean snow scattered across it.

"I couldn't just let this go. They were our classmates, and Monokuma took them from us."

That'd be a controversial statement to some. One killed the other, after all.

I currently stand on a makeshift wooden platform, built during the day hours. Behind me are two wooden crosses; both bearing a name written on a sheet of notebook paper: the fallen students Kisaki Yukijin and Sumiyoshi Mizuki. Their titles of SHSL Utaite and SHSL Fashion Designer respectively are also written underneath. Standing at my side is the organizer of this event, Suzuki Mihane.

"You might say Sumiyoshi is to blame here, but that's not the case," I shake my head, continuing my little speech, "We were given an offer Monokuma knew we couldn't refuse. Our families…"

I trail off, watching a few cringes among the crowd, having accidentally brought up memories nobody wanted to relive. I tremble as well.

"Their deaths were unfair," Suzuki took over for me. I look over at her, noticing the strong resolve in her facial features. When I look into her eyes, it's hard to tell what she's thinking, but right now I see her trying to be strong. For everyone. I'm hoping, anyways. "but we can't let it take us down, as well."

"I doubt Monokuma will give us time to mourn. At the same time, I'm not saying we should all just hurry and get over the deaths, but… we need to be realistic. This could happen again. What happens if we continue to let it depress us?"

Suzuki raises a point. It's so unfair, but it's true.

"How can we win the fight against Monokuma like that?" she asks.

It's a rhetorical question. No one answers.

"We can't." she answers it herself. "It's… terrible, we lost two of our friends without even really knowing them. But we have to wait until after we get out of here before mourning."

"...Are you guaranteeing we will be free of this place?" One of the audience members raises a question. Dressed in a heavy, black greatcoat, it's Hizen the SHSL Undertaker. His eyebrows are drawn together with doubt, and his arms are crossed.

"No." Suzuki shakes her head, not fazed in the slightest. "But we have to think _positive,_ Hizen. While we're still here, we have to think _positive_."

"Negativity will only set us back." I say, adding on.

"Agreed. Morale is of utmost importance right now." Erik - the Military Strategist - nods. Much like Hizen, his arms are crossed over his blue hoodie.

"So we all gotta make an agreement, okay? We need to agree to move on. It's what they'd want." I continue.

"Yeah, man." Toori smiles.

Saya copies the motion.

The shy trio; Aito, Masamoto and Placide, all nod and smile enthusiastically.

"Yeah!" Asai grins.

Jokuno rolls his eyes under his worn glasses. "If you insist."

Dakota's hands are on her hips as she mulls it over. "Alright. Yeah. Ain't no fuckin' way I watched them die like that just so I can go out the exact fuckin' same."

Haru stays silent, but still produces a smile.

Sakuro simply blinks in confusion. That's right… earlier, we learned that Keiro has a split personality, and that's Sakuro. Since Keiro was the only personality that's been around since the beginning, Sakuro doesn't know one hundred percent of what's going on. We may have explained to him, but he never met Kisaki or Sumiyoshi before they died.

"Yeah. Okay, good. Good."

'_Heh. Is this actually going to work?'_

I smile as well.

"Don't worry, everyone." Suzuki says. "I know that if we work together like this, the future will be bright."

* * *

><p><em>You have (1) new message. [Read]  [Close]_

_[11:03PM]Suzuki Mihane: "Nice work earlier, Hitaka."_

_[11:05PM]Hitaka Yuushi: "Thanks. You too though, we never would've had a funeral if you didn't come up with it."_

_[11:05PM]Suzuki Mihane: "Well, I guess we can share it then. We did good"_

_[11:06PM]Hitaka Yuushi: "Everyone looked really happy"_

_[11:06PM]Hitaka Yuushi: "I think we actually raised morale"_

_[11:06PM]Suzuki Mihane: "Thank god, it didn't look good for a while"_

_[11:07PM]Hitaka Yuushi: "Idk who's friends and who isn't right now but maybe that'll help us bond or something"_

_[11:07PM]Suzuki Mihane: "How are you feeling anyway?"_

_[11:07PM]Hitaka Yuushi: "I'm just really tired… I might be over this cold in a day or two"_

_[11:07PM]Suzuki Mihane: "Take some of that medicine I gave you before you go to bed, okay? Now's not the time to be sick"_

_[11:08PM]Hitaka Yuushi: "Yeah, I took some already. Thanks for that, really"_

_[11:08PM]Suzuki Mihane: "Don't worry about it. Go rest okay?"_

_[11:08PM]Hitaka Yuushi: "Alright. You too though. Night"_

_[11:08PM]Suzuki Mihane: "night."_

* * *

><p><strong>DAY 4<strong>

* * *

><p>"<strong>It is now seeeeeven AM! Time to wake up! Let's make today into the best it can be!"<strong>

I have this bad habit of thinking I'm gonna wake up from a nightmare when I go to bed here, but that's the third time that morning announcement proved I was still in reality. But I'm not allowed to be sad right now. I have a job to do; and that's getting us out of here. We _all_ have a job to do.

Those thoughts are what fuel me to sluggishly toss my excuse of a blanket aside, getting off the bolted-in bed and into the bathroom. I go through the motions and change into an outfit of camouflaged clothes, the ones I got from the storage building. I notice the shaving equipment I took and consider shaving, but I figure I can at least get some breakfast first, and thus I make my way to the mess hall.

It's pretty empty. Jokuno and Erik seem to be talking, seems kinda serious. Then again, they're always serious. Toori, Saya, and Suzuki are at one table hanging out. Asai sits at a table alone, and Masamoto sits at another table by her lonesome. '_Huh, that's weird. Where's the other two? Did Aito switch to Placide or something? Damn...'_

No one seems to really notice me walk in, so I just keep going right into the kitchen. I don't feel like cooking, so… my next best bet is an MRE. '_Goddammit.'_ After tossing some around, I find one marked 'Maple Sausage', and figure that's the closest thing to breakfast I'm gonna find. On the way out, I notice a plate with some sort of omelet on it resting on the counter.

"Hey, Hitaka!" Toori calls out from his table and I poke my head out of the kitchen. "We tried making an omelet, it, uh… It's edible, I swear! Better than the MREs at least."

'_Well, anything's better than an MRE.'_

"Thanks, I'll try it." I reply.

Shrugging, I return the MRE where I found it and retreat into the kitchen with some of the leftover omelet. Masamoto's still sitting alone, and I remember that I haven't really talked to her much… well, I'd rather sit with someone I know, but wouldn't it be beneficial if I knew everyone?

"Hey, Masamoto." I greet, sitting across from her.

"A-ahwha?" she blinks in surprise. I think I scared her. "O-Oh, hi Hitaka." Masamoto recovers with a calm smile.

I grab a forkful of omelet. "How've you been?"

"Um, okay…" she nods, slowly. She's eating the omelet too, her pace matching her speech. "The funeral last night was nice…"

"Thanks," I then nod myself. "It's… pretty unfortunate."

Masamoto says nothing, but I take it as an agreement.

…

"So, where's Aito and Placide?" I ask.

"I-I don't know…" she replies.

…

Well, maybe I should've expected this. It goes quiet for a while. I quietly pick at the breakfast before me - it tastes decent I guess - racking my brain for something to talk about. It doesn't help that I'm pretty awkward myself sometimes, this being one of those times. '_Crap.'_

"So um, you're the Crotchetier, right?" When in doubt, use talents as a conversation starter.

"Y-Yeah," Masamoto smiles, "Well, I would've been…" She suddenly frowns.

"Had we not been here." I finish for her.

She nods.

"Sooo… what do you do exactly?"

I see her eyes light up, and in that instant, I realize what I just got myself into.

"I sew!" she smiles again. "I do all kinds of sewing. I've sewn clothes, and blankets, and gloves, and socks, and hats, but I really like making stuffed animals. Oh, let me show you them!"

'_rip me'_

Masamoto reaches into her black backpack that was sitting on the ground next to her. It looks pretty heavy-duty. After some shuffling around, she produces one specific animal. I swear I've seen it before in some game. What was it, Shmokemon?

"This is a Waluble. She's a grey mouse." I notice Masamoto's mainly grey outfit. If this thing was a person, she'd be Masamoto. "She likes sweets, and books, and…"

"What's her stats?"

"What?" she blinks again.

"She's from that game, isn't she? Doesn't she fight?" I ask. I never played it, but I can't be that misunderstood, can I?

"Yeah…" she nods. "But she's one of the weak ones."

"Ouch."

"Wait, I have more." Masamoto says. She puts the Waluable away before pulling out another one, telling me all about it. Then another one. And another one.

'_And another one… I feel like that DJ.'_

Eventually, she went through her entire bag. Don't get me wrong, they were all very professionally done, but, well… I didn't expect to be here _that_ long. Sun's probably about to go down by now.

"I wish I had my supplies…" Masamoto says with a frown. "I want to make more animals."

"You have any ideas in mind?" I ask her.

For some reason, she starts stuttering. Her face gets red and she can't even look me in the eye.

"Uh…?"

"O-Oh, I-I want to make one of M-Monokuma!" she suddenly recovers. Kind of. That sentence was hella forced, and I think she's sweating.

"What? Why Monokuma?" I ask, blinking.

"U-Uh… he's cute." she explains, quite briefly.

'_Not the word I'd use for a crazed kidnapper slash game show host gone wrong, but okay.'_

By around that point, I was about done with my food, and so was she. We decide to empty out our plates and toss them in the sink, but after that, she kind of dashed.

"O-Okay, I'm gonna go!" she had said, "B-Bye, Hitaka!" Without another word, she ran.

I look back at the sink behind me. It's full of dishes. I realize they've been there for a few days, and Monokuma hasn't been washing them. Just then, Masamoto's reason for running off suddenly dawns on me.

'_...clever girl.'_

Somebody walks in with a pile of dishes. It's Toori, and his eyes widen upon seeing the sink. "Yeesh, I feel bad for Monokuma."

"Yeah, uh… I don't think he's gonna clean them." I state.

He goes silent.

"Gotta run, dude!"

After dropping his dishes, he's gone.

'_Don't tell me I've gotta-'_

Asai comes in next with her dish. "Oh, hey Hitaka." she greets.

"Hey, Asai…"

"Why the long fa- huh, that's a lot of dishes." she realizes as she puts hers in. "Good thing we have Mono-"

"Nope. It's up to us."

"..."

"Seeya, Hitaka!" she smiles, turning tail and leaving.

'_What!? Sh-she didn't even TRY to excuse herself!'_

"What was that about?" Jokuno is the next one in the kitchen, with a raised eyebrow and two plates in his hands.

"I dunno. Gotta run, man." With that, I make a mad dash for the door and I'm out of there.

* * *

><p><strong>Ding, dong, ding, dong.<strong>

'_Well, I was enjoying my rest…'_ Through the speakers above my room's desk, those familiar bells rang out. With a yawn, I turn around in my bed, watching the TV.

"Hey, bastards!" Monokuma's sitting there with a glass of wine in his hand. "Come outside for a minute, I got something for y'all."

'_Don't tell me there's another motive?'_

Suddenly, my heart rate accelerates. Wasn't it supposed to be last night? I remember Monokuma telling us that, but the bear hadn't shown up. Anyway, I quickly climb out of bed and toss my winter jacket on as well as my shoes, pocketing my ElectroID and leaving my room. But before I do, I heard something odd - it was like a distant, muffled… chopping type of sound.

It's just as cold as it was earlier, and that's, well, pretty cold. My eyes have a bit of a hard time adjusting from the dim light of the room to the outside sun, but as they do, I finally see something in the sky. It's the source of the chopping sound.

"What the hell?" I blurt out in surprise.

"Eh?"

"Wait, what!?"

"Oh my god, is that a helicopter!?"

Lo and behold, that is a helicopter.

"Dude, that's a helicopter!" Toori announces in shock, pointing up at the sky with a shaking finger.

There's a helicopter in the sky. All black; including the windshield, unfortunately hiding the pilot from our view. The sleek vehicle flies in the distance, but it's coming our way. It's close enough that all the air it's picking up starts hitting us - '_dammit, it was cold enough already'_ - prompting a few of us to shield our faces with an arm.

"Yup! That's a helicopter!" Monokuma's squeaky voice reveals itself from behind us, in the direction of the main building. I turn to face him.

"What's with the helicopter!?" I yell loudly, in some attempt to project my voice over the helicopter's blades.

"Why are we all saying helicopter!?" someone shouts but I pay no mind.

"I-it's starting to sound like a foreign word..."

"You'll see!" Monokuma replies, quite helpfully too. '_Asshole.'_

Eventually, the helicopter comes to a stop and hovers just above us. Everyone's screaming. Trying to get the pilot to land. A few people are assuming that help has finally arrived and are understandably confused as to why it's not landing, but I share a glance with others - some being Erik, Jokuno, and Suzuki - and we all appear to see what's going on. If Monokuma appears to know about this helicopter, having called us out to see it and all, then there's no way this is going to get us out of here.

The door slides open, and a black crate suddenly falls out. It hits the snow with a soft thump. We all stare at it, and Erik is the first one to inspect it, with a raised brow. He reads the golden plaque on top.

"Hitaka?" he says. Actually, it came out more like a question.

"What?"

"No, I mean- that's what it says," Erik replies, "'Hitaka Yuushi'."

I blink. Why me?

Just then, another crate topples out the same door. Erik instinctively rears back. I come over and check for another plaque - and there actually is one. "'Takahashi Haruna'..." I read aloud.

Haru comes next to me. "What the hell?" she crouches down with squinted eyes, reading it herself as well.

Another crate comes. As it falls, the door on the opposite side of the helicopter opens as well, and a crate falls out of there. Then another one. One comes out on this side. Before we knew it, somewhere over a dozen cases have fallen out of the helicopter. Each one appeared to have a name on it, and gears in my head started turning.

I immediately get a flashback to the first night we were here. Monokuma gave us personalized folders. And now, he's giving us personalized… crates. If those tiny folders were enough to send someone over the edge and resort to killing, then what the _hell_ could be in these?

Soon enough, the helicopter's doors close and it flies away, much to our dismay. Our only possible connection to what's on the outside of these fences leaves without a trace.

"Well, now that that's ov-" Monokuma starts.

"What the hell was that!?" Haru blurts out, cutting him off.

"Woah, relax, man! I'm gettin' to it, sheesh!"

"Are you arming us?" Erik asks. Looking over, he's crouched over his now-open crate, and a sleek black pistol is in his hand.

Wait, what?

"We already have an armory…" he rolls his eyes. Erik inspects the gun, pulling back the slide and checking the magazine. "This thing isn't even _loaded._"

"Keep looking around in there, Erik. And the rest of you, start opening up your crates! Don't worry, there's no bombs or anything. That'd just end the game so early." Monokuma says. Real assuring.

"This is fuckin'..." Dakota mumbles swears under her breath. Why am I not surprised?

Anyway, I've been in front of my crate this whole time, so I get on my knees in the snow and start opening the latches. When it's unlocked, I lift the lid - it opens upwards, like one of those portable computer things the CIA use when they're out on operations and stuff.

'_...Or, like, a laptop. Why'd I have to make that so complicated?'_

Unexpectedly, the first thing I see in my case is an instrument. No, that's not a metaphor, this isn't an instrument of death or something, it's… literally a musical instrument. It's a guitar. Upon closer inspection, it's _my_ guitar.

"My sewing supplies!" Masamoto excitedly exclaims. I see Aito smiling for her nearby.

Asai holds up a long handle with a small, precise blade at the end. Her eyebrows furrow in confusion. "Is this actually my taxidermy kit?" she wonders aloud, looking down into her crate.

Saya's mouth is in an 'oooh' shape. In her hands is a silver flute, glinting in the sunlight.

Huh. I'm starting to see a pattern here.

'_Does this have something to do with my talent?'_

I gently place my guitar aside and keep looking, it seems like that wasn't all. My case is also in here with all the accessories I had, including a wire and pocket-sized amp. Considering that it's an acoustic, I don't need the amp, but it's still nice.

"So y'all should be getting the idea of what's going on here, right?" Monokuma asks.

"Yes. You're giving us items from our past." Erik says with a frown. There's some folder in his hand, not unlike the manilla folders we were given for our first motive. "Why?"

"Well, I'm a nice bear, don't you think? I give you food, a place to live, I even gave you all your old things just now!" he replies. "Didn't you miss that guitar, Hitaka?"

'_Did I? I wouldn't know. I don't remember being a huge fan of playing guitar. But maybe I was? I guess if I don't remember my talent, I'm not gonna remember fighting for it...'_

"You didn't answer my question - why are you giving us our favorite things? What're you getting out of this?" Erik repeats his question.

"Nothing!"

"You're only doing this to be nice…?" Suzuki asks with extreme doubt in her voice.

"Yeah, why not?" Monokuma shrugs. "It's not _all_ good. Keep digging around in there. Seems like Erik knows what I'm talking about."

Erik quickly tosses something back into his crate and grunts, looking away. Was it that folder? With a bit of worry, I keep looking.

The next thing I find is a binder full of music. It's all the music I played on guitar. It's decently packed. Flipping through the pages, old memories of playing them comes to the surface… That contradicts my thoughts that I'd forget fighting for my talent too, doesn't it? I clearly played a lot.

"What the hell is this!?" Hizen suddenly shouts, and quite frankly, it scared the shit out of me. I quickly turn my head, seeing him tearing a sheet of paper apart.

"Upupu." Monokuma just ignores his question.

I'm getting more worried as this continues.

The next thing I see surprises me. It's a pair of black-and-white boxing gloves. Something… _unlocks,_ in my chest, as I see it. Not literally - I don't think, anyway - but something just felt, I don't know, _right._

"_Oh! Yeah, I saw you hitting that bag earlier! That was impressive."_

Asai's words ring out in my head.

"Is this supposed to be a joke?" Suzuki asks. "I've been looking for secret compartments or something, but…"

Suzuki's nearby me. Curiously, I look over, immediately finding out what she's talking about. Her crate's just straight up empty. Seriously. Nada, nothing. There wasn't anything around her, so she couldn't have just taken the contents out.

"Oh, boo hoo. Suzu doesn't get any presents." Monokuma doesn't give a shit.

I eventually decide that staring at my gloves forever isn't going to get me anywhere. With a frown, I set them aside. My crate's just about empty, except for one final thing. It looks like the cover to a newspaper. Parts of it are blacked out, including the date. Seems like it's local, from Tokyo. These miscellaneous things clearly aren't the focus, however.

**Hitaka Yuushi: the story of the crazed teenage serial -**

'_What.'_

Something after the word 'serial' is blacked out, but I can tell what it's supposed to say.

"...You're pretty good at that whole Photoshop thing, Monokuma." I say aloud, with my eyes still trained on the article. The picture is a mugshot of somebody. Considering how my name is there and it looks pretty close to my own face, I'd have to assume it's me, but… I look dead. Yes, I'm probably alive in the picture, but there's no light in my eyes. I'm not focused on the camera. My eyes just appear to be looking in the general direction of it. My lips hang open ever so slightly. I look like I just got back from Vietnam or something.

"Upupu. Has everyone looked through their crates by now?" Monokuma asks. Nobody replies. As I look, everyone generally has some look of discomfort on their face. A few us look confused or otherwise uncaring, but mostly, Monokuma seemed to strike a nerve.

He takes the silence as a yes. Monokuma snaps his… claws, and a projector screen suddenly rolls down from the roof of the main building. We then see Monokuma walking to around the where the funeral last night happened before we took the platform down with a projector in his possession. A wire runs from it into the building. Monokuma piles some snow together and places the projector on it, kinda MacGyvering it. Considering how much crazy shit's been going on, we just accept this sudden situation.

"Hey! You there?" Monokuma says. I raise a brow.

"Yeah, I'm right here! Whaddaya want?"

Did he just reply to himself?

"Turn the damn camera on!" Monokuma says. Who the hell is he talking to? A voice had replied to him, but it sounded the exact same as his own. It came from the loudspeakers around us.

"What!? You didn't tell me you were-"

"_Just turn it on!_ You have it, don't you!?"

"Yeah, yeah, hold on, you impatient bastard!"

"Who said you can talk to me like that!?"

"Sheesh! There! Can you see us?"

"No! Did you actually manage to mess up turning on a camera? It's a damn button, you incompetent-"

I share a confused side glance with Suzuki.

"How about now!?"

Suddenly, a vast, snowy climate appeared on the screen. It felt like the screen became a mirror, but no - it was completely flat. Like a barren desert covered in snow.

"Yes, but what the hell are you doing showing us the snow!? Why do you think I-"

"GOD! HERE!"

The camera pans to the right, showing more of the flat land, and the next thing we see is around a dozen or so unfamiliar people.

"There we go! Finally." Monokuma says. "Here's your families, guys!"

I froze upon hearing that. '_Wh-what?'_

"Oh my god!"

"Huyu!?"

"Y-You fuckin' bastard!" Dakota shouts, "What the hell are you doing with my brother!?"

"Relax, relax! Don't you know why I'm showing you this?" Monokuma asks.

I paid little to no attention to the back-and-forths going on. I looked for my family. Anyone I recognized. I saw a lot of kids and teenagers. There was one particular group of four children - the oldest had to be eight. Could they be Sumiyoshi's siblings? Shouldn't there be more, though?

Eventually, someone shuffled aside and I saw someone with injuries matching what I remember seeing in the pictures given to us in our motive. On the teen's right hand, he was missing his index, middle, and ring fingers, leaving only the thumb and little finger - useless on their own. However, there was something new. A white bandage was sloppily wrapped over his left eye, stained pink with what must be blood. Despite it, I knew who it was.

That was my brother, and he was alone. My parents were nowhere in sight.

"Yoshida!" Without realizing it, I shout his name at the top of my lungs. If Monokuma can talk to them, maybe they can hear me too!

"Stop, stop! They can't hear you!" Monokuma sighs angrily. '_Way to shut me down…'_

Sure enough, Yoshida - my little brother - didn't react in the slightest.

"This is proof. Proof that I held up my part of the deal, and proof that the first motive was real."

"N-No…"

"You can't be serious right now, dude! I ain't hearin' this!"

"How elaborate…"

Monokuma continues, despite our protests. "These are your family members, if you couldn't tell already! You can't edit a video - you know it's real! Notice how they have the same wounds as in the pictures!"

Yoshida looks depressed. He's always been a quiet, shy kid, but I've never seen this before. His eyes are half-lidded, his body leans forward in bad posture, and he walks with a limp. His skin is pale. He's extremely skinny. Again, he's always been skinny, but this is just unhealthily skinny. Yoshida's wearing a blue hoodie with white drawstrings _('when did he get that?'_) and jeans, and his outfit looks far too big on him.

"I said that if somebody kills, then your family members live. Yes? Yes, I said that. So here you go! They're alive! Do you still doubt that this is real?"

Nobody can make a counter to that.

"You done with your stupid speech yet? We got places to be." The camera moves away from the families, prompting nearly all of us to shout at the screen, yelling at the cameraman to show us our families again. But he just shows himself. He wears a black-and-white ski mask that doesn't look unlike Monokuma himself.

"Where!?" I yell out. "Where are you going!?"

"Yeah, I think so. Have a safe trip!" Monokuma says, and I'm ignored.

"Okay. Bye- _ugh!_"

The camera suddenly falls to the snow as the Monokuma filming grunts. It falls in such a way that shows us what just happened - the man is now, for some reason, on the ground, and a wounded man who seems to be in his 20s is on top of him. His fists repeatedly smash into his face, alternating between left and right.

"Huyu!?" Aito blurts. "Wh-what are you doing!?"

'_What!? Aito's family member? I-Is he fighting?'_

Shouts and screams of surprise ring out from all around, both from among our crowd and the crowd on screen. As a continuation of our surprise, a brown-haired boy runs and grabs the camera.

"Mihane!" he shouts. "S-"

"Show's over!" Monokuma yells and hits a button on the projector, abruptly shutting off the feed. The screen goes blank.

"No! Huyu!" Aito's voice shakes.

Without a word, Erik walks away. He goes past his room and keeps walking.

"Idiot…" Jokuno mutters, following him.

Suzuki looks extremely disturbed. She's actually trembling. I've never seen her so scared. Granted, it's only been a few days since I met her, but I didn't expect that something would actually frighten her like this.

"Hey. Can y'hear me?" Monokuma asks.

No response.

"Hellooo?" he tries again.

Nothing.

"Damn people always trying to fight back and crap…" Monokuma murmurs. "Well, whatever. I got my point across, yeah?"

"Where are they!?" Dakota screams. "Where's-"

"W-Wait, calm down!" I cut her off. "Hang on a minute, guys. They're alive! Not in very good shape, yes, but… they're _alive_, aren't they?"

We were so consumed by the shock of seeing our families again that not very many of us thought of it that way. I just now realized what it is we saw. Considering how Aito's family fought back, they could be free by now.

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" I say, looking to Suzuki for support. She's on her knees, staring downward with empty eyes. Uh…

"Hey hey, don't get all hopeful. I'm just proving that the motives are real before I give you the next one."

'_Oh come on.'_

"What do you mean, next one?" Saya asks with a frown.

"Assuming that y'all have looked through your crates by now, you will probably have figured somethin' out: you got some of your favorite things from your past, but there was also somethin' _weird_ in there, wasn't there? Something that didn't make any sense?" Monokuma asks.

I look down at the newspaper article again. No doubt, that's my name, and that's my mugshot, but I don't remember anything about it.

"I'll make you an offer: kill, and I'll tell you all about it!"

"Did you mess with our memories or something?" Asai asks.

"Does that really seem so weird? Our poor Hitaka can't remember his talent, remember?" Monokuma retorts.

'_Shit… What else don't I remember? I thought I only forgot my talent!'_

"You messed with _all_ of our heads!?" Dakota says, mouth agape.

"Maaaybe…" Monokuma puts his paws over his mouth, ever so innocently.

"You couldn't have done something about Keiro while you were pokin' around in our head, huh?" Sakuro asks, pouting.

"Wh-what are you talking about...?" Placide has been quiet as usual, but it seems she couldn't hold her confusion this time.

"So let's get this straight," Saya says, slightly biting her lip. "If we kill, you'll return our memories?"

"That sounds about right!" Monokuma nods.

"How do you even have the power to _do_ that?" Toori asks, "Who the hell are you?"

"It's cuz I'm magical. Not like, some magical miracle girl or something-"

As he said that, I could've sworn I heard a faint "Love, love!" in the distance. Weird.

"I'd give up on asking questions by now, man." I advise.

"Fair enough." Toori says, rubbing his temples under his black cap. "The more this thing says, the more confused I get."

"Do you people even care that I just gave you a motive!?" Monokuma raises his voice. "You guys were so freaked out last time! C'mon!"

"W-Well, it was realistic that time… we couldn't r-really take the chance," Aito says quietly, "but now, this just doesn't make any sense…"

Monokuma sighs. "Puuu… I even gave you proof that the motives were real! Oh well. I'm done here. Y'all better kill somebody!"

With that, Monokuma packs up his projector, sends the screen back up, and disappears into the building.

"Fuck this shit, mate." Dakota promptly walks off, saying exactly what we were all thinking.

* * *

><p><strong>[AN:**

**Me: I've lost interest, life's busy, the story hasn't been updated for a year and a half - it's over.**

**Also me: *literally writes a 5000k+ chapter***

**What am I doing? Nobody knows. Not me, that's for sure. I really didn't think I'd come back and update this, like, ever, but... hey man, I was bored. Tomorrow's Thursday anyway so, #TBT amirite? Okay sorry.**

**If anyone's wondering what I've been up to since my last update... wow, well, a lot's happened. Made friends. Lost friends (I do not blame them for it, however). I'm in the middle of my second year in high school. There's been a lot of drama, especially so during 2014, that was... well, I'd like to say it was my favorite year ever and my worst year ever. A lot of problems I had during '14 and '15 have either been solved or there just ain't anything I can do about 'em now, so now I'm just kinda chillin'. Trying to, anyway. Here's hoping I can use this year as something like a recovery year, lol. I seriously need a break from drama. (I sound like a drama queen myself, don't I? Sorry. I haven't quite ranted lately.)**

**Oh, about the chapter: I mentioned Shmokemon and a "Waluble". Backstory: Back in grade school, I was trying to write the word "valuable" and came up with "waluable" instead. How? Idfk. For some reason, I found this funny and showed my friends, who said it sounded like a pokemon. ...We proceeded to make a comic series called Shmokemon for the next couple of years. Good times.**

**As per tradition, replies to reviews below.**

**Myshiroyuki: Kept you waiting, huh?**

**Hero of the Dark: I hope a year and a half isn't too long :P**

**FirelightKnight: You should update TOWOID.**

**SHSL Slacker: Heh. Hopefully this update doesn't involve any police-calling. Don't listen to my beginning A/Ns, despite what I say my stories will probably always have some reason for alarm. And yes, ships may be starting to sail! Will this story update to see where they go? Who the hell knows. I don't actually remember what I was doing with Makoto and Kyoko... I hope it wasn't _too_ important. And finally, nah, no 50k. One day it will happen. _One day._**

**I don't know if I'm going to update again. Like I said, this really only happened because I was bored and just felt like it. But I don't want to end it. I may continue, but it's _kind_ of unlikely. I've been working on original stories plus I started drawing (yay for tablets), _plus_ there's been an increase in workload this semester, so... I dunno. I'm not gonna make any promises.**

**If you actually read this far, then thanks for reading. Seeya around.]**


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